Call for ethics declarations by Cork councillors to be made public

There has been a call for the annual ethics declarations made by Cork city councillors to be made publicly available on the council’s website.

The declarations detail interests in land and property, as well as business dealings and directorships, and several local authorities have begun posting these online.

Sinn Féin councillor Joe Lynch, has submitted a motion to Cork City Council calling for the council to publish the annual declarations no later than one month following the deadline for their submission, on or before March 31, each year.

Mandatory

Mr Lynch explained that these declarations are mandatory for all elected members: “As councillors, we file a return with Cork City Council every year setting out declarable interests as part of the ethics framework for local authority members set out in the Local Government Acts.

“This transparency is very important and these returns are public documents, insofar as a public register of returns is available for inspection at City Hall in paper format; however it is rarely accessed.”

He added that among the local authorities that have taken to publishing these returns on their websites are Dublin’s four local councils, as well as Galway City, Kerry County and Tipperary County Council.

“Cork City Council is lagging behind in this regard, and it is time we made the register of declarable interests for councillors more accessible to the public; who are our employers and who we serve.”