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

What is excluded in regard to that group are those that come under section 5(4)(m) which deals with the shareholding and direction from a Minister about the policy. Let us take Horse Racing Ireland or the national stud, for example. I am not an expert on the horse racing industry but a large grant for the horse and greyhound fund goes through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine every year. Will lobbying by Horse Racing Ireland, the National Stud or whatever group, which wants to get a larger fund from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, or a bigger share of a fund, be captured? I can understand issues in regard to corporate governance but this is a funding issue dealing with the commercial day-to-day activities. Will that activity be captured in the legislation?

If RTE, for example, spoke to the Minister about the licence fee, would that be considered lobbying under this legislation? It is not a corporate matter. It does not come under the exemption in section 5(4)(m). It affects its financial position. Will we say that everything to do with the company is corporate and that everything is excluded? If that is the case and all this is included, this is bad legislation. In terms of all those bodies, is the Minister saying that the only aspect included is in regard to the corporate matters referred to in section 5(4)(m)? I know people might find this a little bit tedious. It deals with the business of the body corporate.

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