Mr. John Devitt:

I only managed to read the Bill the last week so I will offer any more detailed comments in writing to the Deputy. I also speak as a registered lobbyist. I have found that generally speaking, the Bill is relatively easy to comply with for want of a better phrase. The information provided there is relatively comprehensive. If the Deputy has to ask me about any specific technical details related to this Bill, I might suggest that the wording in section 4 be tweaked to specify that where a lobbyist is failing to comply with the Act under proposed section 16(A)(1) that the DPO is required to cease any further communication. The current wording mentions "where a Designated Public Official is aware that a person or body carrying on lobbying activities has failed to comply with the registration of lobbying activities". I suggest that this wording be amended to "is failing to comply with the Act", such that those who employ a retired public official who is not in compliance with cooling-off periods is also captured by this section. Therefore, in essence, changing the tense from the present perfect to the present continuous would make it easier for the commission to enforce and would also afford the lobbyist an opportunity to comply with the Act. A minor contravention might be a failure to file a return on time. If a lobbyist refuses or declines to file a return, he or she will be considered to be in material breach of the Act and I would imagine that it would be relatively easy to determine that he or she is not in compliance with that particular provision. It would also mean that the failure to comply is an objective rather than a subjective test and that it is not open-ended. This would also deal with proposed section 16(A)(4) in respect of where a body has been guilty of a contravention. I suggest changing the wording of this to "is in contravention".

Guidance might be needed for the commission on determining the duration of the cessation. We would advise against leaving that open to any potential arbitrary decision making such that the commission has clear guidance on the length of time that the person is precluded from lobbying. I would imagine that statutory guidance or a statutory instrument may be required to help interpret certain provisions of this Bill unless they are provided for in primary legislation but, again, I am happy to come back to the Deputy on this point.