Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

-----whether Fine Gael's proposals in respect of this matter will be carried through if that party gains power.

The Government amendment also calls on the House to recognise the many initiatives taken by various Departments to extend protection to whistleblowers. Subsequent to its introduction by Deputy Rabbitte in 1999, the Government was informed by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel that the initial whistleblower legislation would require substantial redrafting in order that it might deal with a number of detailed and complex issues which had arisen. As a result, the Government decided on 7 March 2006 to formalise a sectoral approach as part of its policy on the provision of statutory protection for whistleblowers because this would provide a better and more focused way of dealing with the issue. This decision requires Ministers, in consultation with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government, to include, where appropriate, whistleblowing provisions in draft legislation. Such an approach also acknowledges situations where the provision of whistleblowing provisions may not be appropriate.

Before and subsequent to this decision, the Government has included whistleblower provisions in much legislation, including the Standards in Public Office Act 2001, the Competition Act 2002, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and the Consumer Protection Act 2007. This approach ensures new measures will continue to be informed by and benefit from existing legislation and that Members of this House will be able to make contributions to developing legislation on a case-by-case basis in this important area.

I agree with Senator Quinn that whistleblowing or, as it is otherwise known, informing is not exactly an integral part of Irish culture. I was asked by The Irish Times to review three volumes of journals of a previous Upper House, namely, the former Irish House of Lords and I came across an interesting debate in which peers agreed that informing on one another was simply not done. In a modern democracy, however, people who come across serious wrongdoing and bring it to the attention of the authorities should be protected and not, as happened in the fairly recent past in both the commercial world and the public sector, punished and excluded.

Lobbying is an integral element of democracy where the citizen, interest groups or businesses communicate to policymakers their legitimate concerns and preferences. We need to be informed by outside views, regardless of whether they come from an industry representative, an environmental non-governmental organisation, a residents' association or a trade union. I reject the notion that golden circles exist. As a Minister of State, I am in a position to state that, unfortunately, the majority of people who lobby in respect of what they want to be done, and these things usually cost money, receive responses which either are negative or indicate that their desires cannot be fulfilled at that point.

In Ireland, a small number of public relations companies carry out lobbying work on a fee basis from time to time. This is a very small industry by international comparison. However, we have a very open political system in which Senators, Deputies and Ministers meet citizens and interest groups, often on day-to-day business and through their clinics. Our political system lends itself to easy and free access, a real strength.

In designing any system of regulation, we must demonstrate that it brings tangible benefits in transparency, that it fits well with public expectations of access and the specifics of our political system and that it does not present an unnecessary drain on public resources to administer, especially at this time of constrained resources. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is considering this issue on behalf of the Government.

The Freedom of Information Act had its origins in the Fianna Fáil-Labour Government in the early 1990s. People associate the phrase, "letting in the light" with the then Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds. The legislation is working well to ensure the public can obtain access to information held by public bodies to the greatest extent possible, consistent with the public interest and the right to privacy, while balancing the effective functioning of the administration. In areas where much work and research is required to handle a freedom of information request, it cannot be entirely free of charge. The legislation's remit has been steadily extended by the Government. Up to 520 public bodies are subject to freedom of information. The total number of requests made in 2008 was 12,600, representing approximately a 20% annual increase.

Senator Twomey is wrong in his claim that no Minister has resigned on reputational matters. In 1946, there was the sad case of the resignation of the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, Dr. Con Ward. He was the victim of a scandal, artificially generated by opponents in the medical profession who did not like the direction he, a pioneer of the health services, was taking towards socialised medicine. Others such as Eddie Collins, a Minister of State in the Fine Gael-Labour coalition of the 1980s, and Hugh Coveney, a Minister of State in the rainbow Government, both resigned on such grounds. Ray Burke not only resigned from the Government but from the Dáil. The idea Ministers never resign is not true.

I am concerned about an ambivalence that does exist. I was horrified to hear IBEC's chief executive a few days ago saying we should bend the rules, as the French do, in EU rules governing public procurement. We have got into many problems with the culture of bending the rules. I strongly believe we should not bend the rules.

We are facing tough economic challenges. To succeed, we must continue to pursue appropriate policies to position the economy to benefit from the global recovery. We must regain the competitiveness we have lost. This will mean an adjustment in our labour market, costs and work practices. We are already demonstrating such wage flexibility in both the public and private sectors, a significant achievement which many countries would wish to emulate.