Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 4:

In page 5, between lines 4 and 5 to insert the following: “6.Section 8 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) Subject to subsection (2), a registered person whose entry on the Register has been marked under section 11(4) with a statement indicating that the person has ceased to carry on lobbying activities shall not carry on such activities.”, and

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) A person does not contravene subsection (1) or (1A), as the case may be—

(a) in the first relevant period in which the person carries on lobbying activities if the person becomes a registered person before the relevant date, or

(b) in the case of a person referred to in subsection (1A), in the first relevant period in which the person recommences lobbying activities if the person complies with the requirements of section 11(5) before the relevant date.”.”.

These two amendments deal with the operation of the lobbying register. Regarding amendment No. 4, the purpose of the principal Act is to achieve transparency of lobbying, not to prevent lobbying.

As a result, and on foot of further consideration of the operation of section 8 along with section 11(4), as amended, and section 11(5), as inserted, of the principal Act, I have decided that section 8(2) should apply to section 8(1)(a) as well as to section 8(1). This means a person who is marked as having ceased lobbying should not be prohibited from carrying out lobbying activity, as long as the person has notified the commission by the relevant date, that is, within 21 days of the end of the relevant period, that they have resumed lobbying under section 11(5) and that they submit a lobbying return for that period.

Amendment No. 6 deletes the proposed section 11(3)(a) to be inserted into the principal Act, which states that a registered person will notify the commission as soon as practicable of any change in their information provided for registration. After further consideration of this provision, I have decided that it is sufficient for registered persons to notify the commission of any changes in their information, as held on the register, when making lobbying returns. This obligation is already provided for in section 12(6) of the principal Act and I am satisfied that a requirement to update information after each relevant period is appropriate, as against necessitating register information to be updated as soon as practicable, as stated in section 11(3)(a). It is important that the administrative burden on registered persons should not be increased unnecessarily and that there be consistency in how the legislation operates.