Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 33:

In page 9, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:"(f) Secretaries General and Assistant Secretaries General;".

The amendments we are discussing relate to the designation of public officials under this legislation. The Minister has included in section 6, as it stands following Committee Stage, a list of people who will have to register under the regulation of lobbying Act if they are lobbied. The section provides that the following are designated public officials:

(a) Ministers of the Government and Ministers of State;

(b) other members of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann;

(c) members of the European Parliament for constituencies in the State;

(d) members of local authorities;

(e) special advisers [to Ministers] appointed under section 11 of the Public Service Management Act 1997;

(f) public servants of a prescribed description;

(g) any other prescribed office holders or description of persons [that the Minister can choose to designate].

I have proposed a number of amendments that would provide for specific groups of people to be listed in the primary legislation alongside the people on the list I have just read.

I have been specific about the additional people I would like to see included in the primary legislation. Those already listed exclude the permanent government. Elected persons come and go, depending on when elections happen. Legislation that did not include the lobbying of Secretaries General and assistant secretaries general would be fundamentally flawed. The Bill's sole purpose is to capture the lobbying of elected politicians. Alongside appointed special advisers, it covers no one else. The Minister can list others by way of regulation, but he will not do so in the legislation. Everyone agrees that the lobbying of politicians should be captured and regulated, but everyone would be as adamant that not including the most senior public servants in the country would represent a fundamental flaw in the legislation.

I tabled amendment No. 33 for this reason. It includes Secretaries General and assistant secretaries general. Amendment No. 34 would include directors of services in local authorities. Such people can have more influence than any elected local councillor. Amendment No. 35 would include principal officers and assistant principal officers. Amendment No. 36 would include the private secretaries of Ministers and Ministers of State. Amendment No. 37 would include the chief executive officers of local authorities. The Minister has indicated that he will designate public officials on commencement of the Act, but I cannot understand why he will not include these people in the Act itself. While I accept his bona fides about including such officials, I want a coherent reason for not listing them in the Bill. I assume that he will accept my amendments by and large. Subsequent to the previous Stage, the Minister gave a commitment to the Oireachtas committee that he would, on commencement of the Act, designate Secretaries General, assistant secretaries general, CEOs of local authorities and directors of services, as specifically called for in my amendments. By way of correspondence, the Minister's position on these four categories is the same as that in my amendments. I am happy to withdraw the amendments relating to private secretaries, principal officers and assistant principal officers, but perhaps those persons could be included in the second round after 12 months.

I am not satisfied with the legislation as drafted. This is the opportunity for the Oireachtas to include in the legislation Secretaries General and assistant secretaries general. Who are the most important people in a Department? Some Departments can see three Ministers passing through in the lifetime of a single Government. The average period of a Minister in a Department is probably two years. Some can stay for the full five years and some can get second terms, but others might only be in position for a year before being moved. There was a Cabinet reshuffle last July.

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