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

That is quite interesting. I thank Mr. Devitt for commenting on that. My third question is on one of the perceived weaknesses of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 in that it applies to persons, for example, a special adviser lobbying his or her former colleagues. If somebody is a special adviser in one Department, he or she cannot lobby officials, let us say, in that Department. We all know in workplaces, however, that someone acting in positions could have multiple interactions with people in other Departments. What are the witnesses' views on that? Should it not be the case that such a person should undertake all lobbying within the required time period and not simply with their former colleagues? Should the law not be expanded to say a person does not undertake direct or indirect lobbying? A person may, for example, want to work for a PR firm and be able to direct people he or she is managing to undertake that lobbying. This question is for both organisations so whomever wishes to answer first may do so.