Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Mairéad Farrell has covered most of the ground. Obviously as the sponsor of the 2020 legislation, she has done a considerable amount of work. I know there has been considerable discussion of section 22 which deals with the cooling-off period. Would the Standards in Public Office Commission and Transparency International Ireland favour the type of provision in the 2020 Bill, involving a different period and different penalties?

The recent Standards in Public Office Commission submission gave its recommendations. Which recommendations will remain unimplemented with the potential passage of this Bill?

There are different views about the cooling-off periods for different people, with the proposal that some people should be barred and so forth. Is there a view about the uneven nature of lobbying? For example, a Deputy, Minister or Minister of State who decides to take up a role in the future as a lobbyist has unfettered access to the Houses of the Oireachtas which means he or she will meet Ministers, including taoisigh, Deputies and people who vote on legislation in the corridors, in the canteen and, God forbid, in the Dáil bar for those people who frequent the bar. Other people do not have that privileged access. Should that access for Members or former Members of the Oireachtas taking up roles in lobbying be restricted?