Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)

Yes.

This Bill will address issues of serious public concern in the operation of the political system in Ireland and incentivise parties to ensure 30% of their general election candidates are women. It will implement specific commitments contained in the programme for Government in respect of political donations, having regard to recommendations made in the final report of the Moriarty tribunal. It can be seen as one part of a wider programme to reform our system of politics and government. Reform should not be feared, particularly when it opens the political process to greater scrutiny. A closed political system breeds mistrust in politics and for those who work within it. I see this every day in my political life and would be surprised if practising politicians were not also aware of it.

The general scheme of the Bill makes provision for the restriction of corporate donations, a reduction in the amounts that can be received as political donations and also a reduction in the thresholds for declaring political donations. Political parties will also be required to submit their annual accounts to the Standards in Public Office Commission for publication. The Bill aims to increase transparency with regard to all donations to ensure there is no question of unhealthy relationships. All political donations will be dealt with in an open and transparent manner. I very much welcome this development.

As an incentive to encourage the selection of a greater number of women candidates, the new legislation includes a provision that political parties will face a cut of one half of their State political funding if they do not have at least 30% female and 30% male candidates at the next general election. This will rise to 40% after seven years. This is a groundbreaking political opportunity to incentivise a shift towards a gender balance in Irish politics. As a man who has been active in politics for some time, I welcome this development. Irish politics is badly in need of greater female participation. However, while required, gender quotas are only the first step. Other change is needed also in order to increase the number of elected females. Changes to how political representation works are also required. I refer to a move to conventional business hours and an end to the late night meetings which conflict with the ability to carry on family life. This would be a positive development for male as well as female politicians.

The Government is keen to have greater transparency in the context of decision making and is soon to publish new laws, based on the very robust Canadian model, on the regulation of lobbyists. These laws will force lobbyists to disclose all their contacts with Deputies, Senators and civil servants. The proposals dealing with this cover all organisations, including charities, professional bodies and, most importantly, commercial lobbyists, who make representations to politicians and civil servants regarding policy or prospective decisions. This will be the first occasion on which members of the public will be able to view information on the contacts made between lobbyists and the Government and how intensely these lobbyists push for what they are seeking. This is a critically important issue and it must be highlighted that the Government's move in respect of it comes only a few months after the publication of the Mahon report which recommended far greater transparency with regard to the role of lobbyists.

I understand a number of proposals are being considered in this regard. I refer to a two-year "cooling-off" period for public servants before they can work in the private sector or any area where a potential conflict of interest might arise in respect of the area of public employment in which they were previously employed. There were examples of this in the area of local government during the property boom when some local authority managers who were retiring went to work for developers. A statutory register of lobbyists that will record the dates of all forms of communications, including e-mails or telephone contacts, between lobbyists and office holders or civil servants on policy, legislation or prospective decisions is to be established. There will also be a public register, with details of contacts to be maintained by an independent body such as the Standards in Public Office Commission or the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Open access to the Government is an important matter of public interest and lobbying is, within reason, a legitimate activity. However, the public should be able to know who is engaged in such activity. A definition of lobbying should encompass any communication on legislation, policy or decisions being made by office holders, including Deputies, Senators or councillors and senior officials, civil servants or advisers. If adopted, these proposals will represent a radical change in Irish politics, in which informal lobbying has taken place in the past. Sometimes this was based on a nod and a wink, while on other occasions it involved the passing of brown envelopes. All of this occurred with little public knowledge of the extent of the access those seeking to change our laws had to decision makers.

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