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

I note that members are discussing amendments Nos. 30 and 31 together. While I understand the Minister's point, I have a different view on it, which is why I believe this paragraph should be deleted, as should the Minister's amendment he proposes in lieu of the existing paragraph. The Minister's amendment should not be proceeded with and I will provide an example I have already mentioned. If one take Dublin Bus and the proposals to privatise some of its routes, under the Minister's amendment, communications between Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and their parent Department need not be registered as lobbying under this legislation. If other companies which might be involved in the proposed privatisation of some of the routes are lobbying on precisely the same issue, they will be obliged to register their interests, whereas as the Minister has just noted, a semi-State company communicating with a parent Department will not be so obliged. This is not right, is not equal and is unfair. I note that many semi-State bodies now are in an area which involves competition. For example, what if Aer Lingus is communicating with its parent Department which owns the 25% of the airline currently in public ownership? What about the example of AIB, of which the State owns 99.8%, if it wished to lobby the Minister for some change? What if another bank, not under State control, wishes to lobby on precisely the same issue and point? It is wrong that there should be a new inside track created for commercial semi-State bodies or organisations that are owned by the State, whereas organisations in direct competition with them do not have the same line of access. The electricity sector provides another example. There was a time when the ESB was a State monopoly, but that is no longer the case, as it probably supplies approximately 40% of the electricity used in the State. The amendment provides that if the ESB wants to get across a point of view to its parent Department, it can engage in all of the lobbying if likes and it need not be registered because it will only be communicating with its parent Department, whereas if any of the other companies producing electricity wished to lobby on precisely the same point, because they would not be lobbying their parent Department, they would be obliged to register. That is my understanding of the Minister's proposal, although perhaps I am misinterpreting him. Perhaps he might clarify the point.