Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to reading the legislation the Deputies intend to bring forward. Two statutory reviews of the 2015 Act have been conducted. A decision was made not to bring forward any legislative amendments in response to those reviews. In reviewing this particular issue, it is important to look back at the statutory reviews and the other information in the public domain, as well as the advice from the Attorney General. There is a need for balance. We need to have a situation whereby people feel they can enter politics or take on a role on a short-term basis as a senior public official and have the capacity to return to their former lives in the private sector, or whatever it may be, and continue with their careers. People can make a contribution at different stages of their life and this mobility enhances politics. It cannot be done in a way whereby people are using the position they very recently held to exercise influence over the system they were part of. That is the issue I will deal with.

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