Ms Elaine Cassidy:

I will start with the coalition of business interests. Both issues relating to that are covered under the general scheme, namely, the requirement to name members and the ability to avoid the current situation where somebody is not covered because he or she is not paid and the organisation just has volunteers.

Regarding sanctions under section 22, it is the commission’s view that criminal sanctions are the appropriate regime because that is what applies to the other offences under the Regulation of Lobbying Act.

Regarding situations where there is more nuance than the standard cooling off period would require, that is something on which the commission has not expressed a view. It will be up to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to see if that situation can be dealt with within the Bill’s drafting.