David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to be able to make a short contribution. I welcome the Bill. It is very important and should have been passed a long time ago. I have examined legislation in other countries. In Australia the lobbyist register requires that upon making contact with a representative or minister, a lobbyist must identify that he or she is a lobbyist, an employee, a contractor or somebody engaged by a lobbyist. I understand a person must also state whether he or she is currently listed on the lobbyist register and that he or she is making contact on behalf of a third party, the name of which must also be disclosed as must the nature of the issue involved. The inclusion of such a provision in the Bill might make for even more transparency.

The Lobbying Disclosure Act 1995 in the United States extended the definition of lobbyists to include those that lobby directly as well as those who hire lobbying firms. This is something which should be considered. I understand that if people contribute moneys towards lobbying activities in the United States, any organisation which contributes more than $10,000 towards lobbying activities must also be registered. We know of situations in the past where individuals were alleged to have given money to lobbyists to carry out lobbying activities, but it might be useful to examine that because one could find the organisations and individuals behind the lobbyist.

Section 22(1) refers to the cooling off period. It states that:

A person who has been a relevant designated public official shall not—

(a) carry on lobbying activities in circumstances to which this section applies, or

(b) be employed by, or provide services to, a person carrying on lobbying activities in such circumstances, during the relevant period except with the consent of the Commission.

There are exemptions, on which we need more clarity. We need to know the nature of the exemptions and how the decision is taken as to what they should be. In Canada the cooling off period is, I understand, six years. The cooling off period here will be much shorter and I wonder whether we need to consider extending it. The federal prohibition period in the United States is two years.

As I understand it, nothing in the Bill requires a lobbyist to disclose how much he or she is being paid and from whom he or she is receiving payment. Perhaps it should be a requirement that a person should disclose by whom he or she is paid to lobby.

Section 13(3) states that:

Where the Commission consider that any information contained in an application made by a person under section 11 or a return made by a person under section 12 is inaccurate or misleading, the Commission may immediately remove from the Register the information contained in the application or return pending provision of corrected information; and the person shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as never having made the application or return unless and until the corrected information is provided.

As I understand it - I stand to be corrected - there are possible fines for an offence, but anybody found to have made a misleading application should be barred from ever applying again, in addition to the fines listed in the Bill. There could be a mandatory period of exclusion before such a person could apply to be on the register again. It would be a fairly serious thing to do. Nothing in this section requires lobbyists to identify specifically who they intend to lobby. I am not sure if it is possible to change that. They are required to identify who they lobbied after the fact, but not before.

It is a timely Bill. It is part of the programme for Government. A lobbyist can lobby directly or indirectly, but we are examining how to make the process far more transparent and visible. There are issues in regard to cooling off periods and so on. The Bill will take a lot of activity out of the shadows. It is important that if somebody is a lobbyist and approaches a Minister, Government official or public official, he or she should identify himself or herself as a lobbyist. That should be very clear from the outset, as should the fact he or she is on the register of lobbyists and is engaged in lobbying.

If somebody approaches a public official or a Minister and is making a case, is he or she lobbying?

When is lobbying not lobbying or vice versa? We need more clarity on that. That is my contribution - I said I would be short.

See this speech in context