Mr. John Devitt:

I cannot comment on what operational impact measures such as this would have. We support the commission's call for, as much as anything, consistency in the application of penalties. It would make little sense to create a separate administrative sanction system for breaches of revolving-door provisions in the Act and have a separate system for late fees, incomplete registration or returns to the commission. If the commission is satisfied that it has the capacity to deliver the current sanction regime I see no reason this would not be extended to breaches of revolving-door provisions. Furthermore, there is no reason for former officeholders, such as Members of the Oireachtas or local authority members, to be treated any differently from lobbyists.

I want to make a point that is perhaps tangential. Lobbying regulation cannot be seen in isolation. It is inseparable from the need to regulate ethics in public office. The inordinate delays in passing reforms to the Ethics in Public Office Act will leave gaps or undermine our ability to uphold standards in public office across the board. We need to look at the passage of this Bill and reform of the legislation as part of a suite of reforms that will enable the Standards in Public Office Commission, the public sector standards commission, or whatever form the body takes after the ethics legislation is reformed, to do its job adequately.

We have noted previously that revolving-door regulations should not be just applied to former officeholders moving into the lobbying profession; they should also apply to those moving into the corporate sector and the private sector. I am aware this legislation can only do so much. It is for this reason we need to effect the reforms set out in the Public Sector Standards Bill 2015 and give the commission the capacity to do its job effectively. The current set-up with six commissioners working full-time, who barely have time to meet and reach a quorum, is inoperable. It is not acceptable or satisfactory. This as much as anything will stand in the way of us upholding standards in public office. The legislation should not be seen in isolation. We have called for the restoration of the Public Sector Standards Bill to the Order Paper without delay.