Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As I indicated to the Deputy, what I am trying to do is strike a balance. I do not wish to introduce an onerous code that would collapse normal public business, but to meet the specific point the Deputy has made, if she looks at page 8 of the Bill, in section 5(5) it is stated the Minister shall prepare and publish a code to be known as the transparency code, setting out how, having regard to the public interest in their doing so, with an appropriate level of transparency, bodies meeting the conditions of subsection (4)(a) are to conduct their activities, if they are to constitute a relevant body, for the purposes of subsection (3)(m). In essence, if they do not abide by the transparency code set out, they are captured by the Bill because they are not exempt. I do not want every working group to be regarded as lobbyists, one for another. I do not think Deputy McDonald wants that either. She wants transparency in the way working groups conduct their business, to know who is on a group, what its agenda is, and what is being discussed, among other issues, and then the outcome of their work. The notion that any group of people working on Government business is lobbying each other undermines the thrust of what we seek to do with the Bill.