Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

Okay. It is fair to say that the aspiration was a fine one and that Senator Crown, in bringing forward the Bill, will have had that in mind, as I and all the Members of the Government do. If it were at all possible to have a pane of glass we would do so.

Senator Thomas Byrne said that the Government is not behaving in a new fashion and that we do not understand the concept behind the Bill. He should bear in mind that in 1998 a Private Member's Bill was introduced by the Labour Party for the introduction of a register of lobbyists, which failed. In 2011 there is a commitment to such a Bill in the programme for Government.