Mr. John Devitt:

I thank the Deputy. The Government made a commitment in 2016 to a legislative footprint as part of its national action plan, which is known as the Open Government Partnership. Whether or not it requires legislation, what we would like to see is the facility to allow members of the public to trace those contacts and the information that is shared between lobbyists and public officials or Members of the Oireachtas in order that the public can see what information is being used to influence public policy or whether someone like me is being listened to or a member of an industry group is having influence over that same public policy. I think it will largely depend on the ability to think laterally and creatively about how we can interconnect existing platforms, such as the Oireachtas website and lobbying.ie, to allow people to move easily through each platform to understand how policy is made and legislation is drafted and what influence different stakeholders have.

It would also allow for people to understand whether a submission they have made in a public consultation has had the desired impact. This measure is aimed as much as anything at informing the public about how public policy is made and building confidence in that process. I do not know whether it requires legislation, but using the platforms that already exist, there is an opportunity for us to educate the public better about how this House works and how policy is made in practice.