Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This amendment relates to Irish Water. I have made my point and I will move on.
Amendment No. 11 is designed to obliged those who register An Post to be registered. Again, An Post is a commercial semi-State body and it has a monopoly in the context of the delivery of post to houses. I accept, however, that its parcel delivery and other divisions are obliged to compete with many private contractors. Where State monopolies are being lobbied, people are entitled to know who is doing the lobbying.
Amendment No. 12 relates to Eirgrid. People who lobby Eirgrid should also be contemplated under the legislation, particularly as that entity can have a fundamental influence on people's lives. I accept that it is not a commercial semi-State body and is more along the lines of a regulator or whatever. I also accept that it might be involved in some commercial activity but the majority of what it does in the context of planning new routes is a matter of public interest. People need to know who is lobbying in respect of such matters.
I am seeking in amendment No. 13 to have those who lobby the Commission for Energy Regulation included under the legislation. The role of that office has been devalued to such an extent that I do not know whether the Government is aware of its existence. We are informed that the regulator approves certain matters relating to Irish Water but it is the Government that makes the decisions. In the context of whatever limited role the Commission for Energy Regulation has been left with, the public needs to be informed about those who lobby it.
The position is the same with regard to the National Transport Authority, to which amendment No. 14 relates. The authority, which is not a commercial semi-State body, is responsible - among other things - for licensing public bus passenger services and its work in this regard relates to both Bus Éireann and private operators. There has been some discussion with regard to the privatisation of 10% of bus routes in Dublin and the National Transport Authority will be lobbied extensively in respect of that matter. The people who lobby it in respect of issues of this nature should be included under the legislation.
Amendment No. 15 relates to people who lobby the Private Security Authority, while amendment No. 16 relates to those who lobby Tourism Ireland. People who lobby Tourism Ireland should be required to be registered. In that context, it might make far more sense for someone who believes there is a case to establish a tourism product in an area in which he or she is commercially involved to lobby officials from Tourism Ireland than lobbying the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport or some other Government Minister. Again, Tourism Ireland is similar to a regulator to some extent and it has a great deal of influence.
Amendment No. 17 relates to those who seek to lobby Waterways Ireland. In the event that I have missed out on naming any entities, amendment No. 18 seeks to have included in the Bill the phrase "lobbies bodies, whose funding is made up of in excess of 50 per cent of voted expenditure, and such person shall be required to be a registered person pursuant to section 8". It goes without saying that I am referring here to bodies such as the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, and Rehab, which receive over 50% of their income through specific voted expenditure provided by the HSE, the Department of Health, etc. There have been many difficulties with regard to such bodies being made accountable to the Houses. The Minister and members are aware that representatives from Rehab came before the Committee of Public Accounts and I understand that the matter relating to it is due to go before the courts. That is in respect of an accountability issue. Members of the public will accept that if an organisation is receiving more than 50% of its funding from voted expenditure provided by the Government, then those who want to lobby it should be contemplated under the legislation.
Amendment No. 19 relates to people who lobby the HSE, while amendment No. 20 relates to the those who lobby the Central Bank. When the Central Bank comes up with an idea to amend the relevant rules to such an extent that people's ability to obtain mortgages is going to be fundamentally impacted upon, the public is entitled to know who lobbied and exerted pressure on it. I refer here to lobbyists both in Ireland and elsewhere. Pressure can be put on organisations such as the Central Bank from outside the country. Certain aspects of the bank's activities are subject to confidentiality under the rules of the European Central Bank and I am not proposing that this should be changed.
Amendment No. 21 relates to those who lobby the education and training boards, which replaced the vocational education committees. Again, almost 100% of the money relating to these boards comes from the taxpayer. In my view, the public is entitled to know who might be lobbying the people who serve on these boards.
The next amendments in my name are Nos. 25 and 26.

I will speak on those, and the Deputy who has other amendments in this group can then speak on them.  Amendment No. 25 relates to the issue of employers, to which the Minister has referred.  It proposes the inclusion in that paragraph of other registered persons as well as an employer.