Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis na finnéithe as ucht teacht os comhair an coiste. I thank our guests for attending this meeting to make their presentations and answer questions. Obviously, it takes a large portion of time out of their day and it is very helpful to us that they have made their time available.

My first question relates to section 22. I am looking at No. 17 in the recommendations from 2016, and I listened to the opening statement with interest. I am aware that the former head of lobbying and ethics in SIPO, Ms Sherry Perreault, said on her resignation last March that the secretariat supporting SIPO needed greater resources to tackle the workload of ex officiomembers of the commission. I am also aware that the Hamilton group reviewed the anti-corruption framework in 2019 and 2020 and it also called for a resource review of the commission and for the ring-fencing of its budget. This was because it believed the current staff complement is insufficient to effectively support SIPO's statutory mandate.

One of my concerns about the Bill, and the witnesses have mentioned it, is its use of administrative and civil sanctions for post-employment contraventions of the lobbying regime. In her opening statement Ms Cassidy referred to imposing unnecessary burdens on the four commissioners who also hold other demanding public service positions. Is it fair to say that if this provision is included in the Bill it would further curtail SIPO's ability to deal with complaints under the Regulation of Lobbying Act in a timely fashion and perhaps go as far as further hindering its work in this area?