The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath T.D., today published the General Scheme of the Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022 following approval by Government earlier this week.
The purpose of this Bill is to:
- extend the definition of lobbying to ensure that business representative bodies and coalitions of business interests, regardless of the number of employees, are brought within the scope of the Act;
- improve the functionality of the Lobbying Register by providing flexibility for new registrants to use the address of where their main activities are conducted; and
- strengthen the existing legislation and its enforcement, including an anti-avoidance clause and the introduction of a fine of up to €25,000 and/or a prohibition from lobbying for up to 2 years for those found to be non-compliant with the Section 22 12 month post-employment cooling off period.
Lobbying is a vital component in maintaining a healthy and well-functioning democracy. However, transparency around lobbying is essential in order to enable citizens to follow the activities and potential influence of interest groups, representative bodies and industry and civil society organisations on policy and funding discussions and decisions. Communication between the political systems, public service and all sectors of society, and transparency around this communication, is and continues to be supported and strengthened by Ireland’s legal framework on regulating lobbying activities. The amendments set out in the General Scheme aim to further strengthen Ireland’s lobbying laws, incorporating the learnings of the last six years.
Speaking on the occasion of the publication of the General Scheme, the Minister said:
“It is my view that the critical drivers of trust are transparency, citizen participation and collaboration with stakeholders. The Lobbying Register has from its inception as a policy proposal, proved to be an outstanding example of best practice in using these drivers to best advantage.
"The extent of lobbying activity is a good measure of engaged citizenry, but it should be open to public scrutiny as part of the desirable checks and balances in a democracy. Currently, almost 2,300 organisations or individuals have registered their lobbying activity and over 63,300 returns are available to view on the Register.
"The legislative proposals detailed in the General Scheme will help to strengthen our regulation of lobbying regime even further and ensure it continues to deliver on the objectives we have set for it.”
Background note:
The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 (the Act) was commenced on 1 September 2015. From that date, there has been a requirement for those who lobby designated public officials (DPOs) to register and report on their lobbying activities every four months on the Register of Lobbying (the Register). The part of the Act which provides for investigation and enforcement provisions was commenced on 1 January 2017.
The Act and related statutory instruments can be viewed at https://www.lobbying.ie/about-us/legislation
The Register, which is a web-based system, can be viewed at www.lobbying.ie and is overseen by the Standards in Public Office Commission (the Commission). There are currently almost 2,300 organisations and individuals who have registered on the Register, and over 63,300 returns have been submitted and are available for viewing.[1]
There is no fee to register as a lobbyist and members of the public can view and search the Register free of charge.
The website, as well as including the online Register, also has a suite of information tools designed to help lobbyists, DPOs and the public to fully understand the Act and its obligations.
The purpose of the Act is to provide appropriate transparency on "who is lobbying whom about what". In this context, the Act is designed to provide information to the public about:
- Who is lobbying;
- On whose behalf lobbying is being carried out;
- The issues involved in the lobbying;
- The intended result of the lobbying; and
- Who is being lobbied.
The Act aims to do this by providing for:
- The establishment and maintenance of a publicly accessible Register of Lobbying;
- The Commission to be the regulator of lobbying;
- Obligations on lobbyists to register and to provide information regularly about their lobbying activities, including, in the case of professional lobbyists, information about their clients;
- A code of conduct on the carrying-on of lobbying activities; and
- The introduction of a "cooling-off" period during which lobbying activity may not be carried out by some former public officials.
[1] Figures correct at 10 Feb 2022
Contact: Claire Godkin - Press Officer, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform - 085 806 3969, pressoffice@per.gov.ie