Ahead of today’s plenary session of the House of Representatives, right-wing DISY is set to table a bill proposing a series of amendments to the existing legislation governing the operation of the fund of the Independent Social Support Agency. The objective of the proposal is to establish the necessary safeguards in order to strengthen accountability and transparency in the Agency’s operations.
The bill is signed by DISY MP Nikos Georgiou on behalf of the party’s parliamentary group and is co-signed by MP Kostis Efstathiou. The main changes proposed are as follows:
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The Agency will be allowed to accept private monetary donations from natural or legal persons, provided that the total annual amount contributed by the same donor does not exceed €50,000.
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The chair of the management committee will be a person of recognised standing and integrity, instead of the First Lady of the Republic.
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The Agency will maintain a register of its resources, recording the donors’ details, the amount paid and the date of payment.
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The Agency’s management committee will be required to publish on its official website a list of the fund’s resources. This list will include the natural and legal persons who, during the current year, have donated amounts exceeding €500, as well as the total amount contributed by each donor, provided that their explicit written consent for publication has been obtained in advance.
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If a donor, whether a natural or legal person, does not provide prior written consent for the publication of their name, the amount and the date of payment, the Agency will not accept the donation.
Speaking yesterday to “P”, the sponsor of the bill, Nikos Georgiou, said: “DISY is not abolishing the fund. It is safeguarding it, together with the citizens who are in genuine need and benefit from its operation. Citizens are calling for transparency, accountability and sound administration. If we truly mean that we are listening to the messages of the times, here is the moment of truth.”
Bill proposing abolition
At the previous plenary session of the House, a separate bill was tabled proposing the abolition of the Agency. This bill is signed by AKEL MPs, DISY MP Kyriakos Hatzigiannis and Volt MP Alexandra Attalidou. DIKO and EDEK also declared their support for abolishing the Agency.
Submit the list
In a statement issued Wednesday, members of the House Institutions Committee expressed their disagreement with the opinion of the Law Office, which advised the Accountant General of the Republic and treasurer of the Agency not to submit to the committee the nominal list of donors from 2020 onwards, citing the protection of personal data.
In its statement, the Institutions Committee notes that under the 1985 Law on the Submission of Data and Information to the House of Representatives (Law 21/1985), refusal to submit information to the House is not permitted, and persons who refuse to do so commit the offence of contempt of Parliament. It also underlines that refusal to submit information is legally permissible only where such submission could cause harm or damage to the Republic in matters of defence, security or foreign affairs, which clearly does not apply in the case of the Social Support Agency.
The nominal list of donors was requested in the context of parliamentary oversight, in order for MPs to investigate possible cases of conflicts of interest, as well as any potential quid pro quo between the Presidency and sponsors. Such suspicions arose following the recent report of the Audit Office on the Social Support Agency.