Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

It was James Connolly who wrote that governments in capitalist society are but committees of the rich to manage the affairs of the capitalist class. He was 100% correct. He was actually popularising what Marx and Engels had written in The Communist Manifesto, stating the executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie. That was back in 1848. Very many things have changed about the world since 1848 but that essential truth about the role of capitalist governments remains.

One of the things that has developed since that period of time is precisely the massive industry of big business lobbying. It is immense. It is big business in and of itself. I remember from my time in the European Parliament that there are 30,000 lobbyists in Brussels. There are something like three lobbyists for every member of staff in the European Parliament. They lobby overwhelmingly for big corporations or the likes of the European Round Table of Industrialists, which is like IBEC taken to a European level. Billions of euro are involved in lobbying on specific legislation for amendments and in general.

Of course, there is lobbying by big business here too and evidently it works. These private companies that are interested in the pursuit of maximisation of profit would not spend the money on being part of these lobbying organisations if they did not feel they got a return for their investment. The way it works is, in essence, to transmit from these businesses, via these lobbying organisations or directly, the interests of big business. People can say that is great and part of the democratic process but the problem is that most people do not have that access. The ability of the vast majority of people to impact on the policy of government is either through participating in voting or by using their collective power by going on strike, organising their community, pressurising from below or demonstrating. The vast majority of people do not have the capacity to pay for access the way big business does. It is a perversion of any notion of basic democracy whenever big business lobbyists are able to have the influence they have.

We have seen the revolving door in politics, big business and lobbying spin extremely rapidly in this country over the past while. It epitomises this process. It works on a level of immediate interest but also more generally in terms of shaping the outlook of an establishment elite layer in Irish society that shares a common outlook and common viewpoint that is, generally speaking, at one with the interests of the very rich and big business in our society. Obviously, the example has been given repeatedly, because it is a very good example, of Brian Hayes going from being a Fine Gael MEP to the head of the banking lobbyists' organisation and, even more blatantly, Michael D'Arcy going from Minister of State with responsibility for the financial sector to being CEO of the Irish Association of Investment Managers. It is definitely worth asking the question as to why these people got these jobs.

It is nothing personal. I do not have any personal problem with either Brian Hayes or Michael D'Arcy and I am not casting any doubt on their talents but I do not think they got their jobs because they are the smartest people in the country. I do not think they got their jobs because they are the people with the highest level of experience in banking and investment management. I do not think that explains why they got their jobs. I do not think their CVs would suggest long experience in lobbying because obviously they do not have experience in lobbying. So why were they chosen for these, presumably, very well paid jobs? The answer is very simple. They were chosen because of their former jobs. They were chosen precisely because Brian Hayes was an MEP and a leading Fine Gael politician and Michael D'Arcy similarly. They were chosen for the access they provide and that is very literal access. Former Deputies can drive through the front gates of Leinster House and the ushers will let them in to park in the car park alongside all of the current Deputies. They can stride through the corridors of Leinster House meeting Ministers and politicians and whoever they want along the way and stop them for a friendly chat. They can go into the Dáil restaurant and the canteen and sit down and have a chat. The lobbyists get literal access to the halls of power by having people such as this. There is also metaphorical access in that these people know the people who are in power. If those people are out of power for a while then, all things being normal in Irish politics, which hopefully they will not be, they will be back in power again so they are very good people, who have the phone numbers of the people they want to be able to talk to and they are able to get access.

When the banks are sitting down and negotiating with the Government they think it is very helpful, and I suspect they are right and that is why they pay for it, to have a politician on their side of the table who knows the politicians on the other side of the table and, therefore, there is a rapport and a willingness to listen to each other and take each other seriously as opposed to a more formal relationship. Again, I emphasise the fact they pay for this for a reason and make these choices for a reason and it is not explicable, in my opinion, without that point of access.

People generally got a glimpse behind the curtain in terms of how the establishment operates in this country over the past number of months. The immediate issue with golfgate was the outrage of people at the behaviour of these people at the time of a pandemic, which was undermining the public health effort, but people also got a sense that this is how power works. At Oireachtas golf society events there is dinner afterwards were people drink, eat and enjoy themselves, and who is there at these tables but politicians, lobbyists and judges all there together. It is not to suggest there are some brown envelopes or something going back and forth but that is not how it has to work.

It is the formation of a common viewpoint whereby these people view the world in a certain way together and have a class identity together which, in my opinion, is counterposed to the class interest of the majority of ordinary people. At the core of that is the elevation of private profit of the banks, of the corporations and of the others who are represented there.

There are other examples. The #leotheleak scandal also demonstrated a different kind of way that access works, whereby the head of the National Association of General Practitioners, NAGP, was able to get access to a document that the current Tánaiste agreed he should not have had access to. It was a confidential document, as was very clear, in my opinion. However, he got access to it because of who he was and how he knew the then Taoiseach.

At the very same time that took place, the paramedics organised in the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, NASRA, were on a picket line to try to be recognised and be formally negotiated with. They did not have any special access whatsoever - nothing like that - and they had to fight for it. It highlights the difference between being an insider and being an outsider and having to fight to be heard.

Adding insult to injury is what has happened around the appointment of Geraldine Feeney to the Standards in Public Office Commission. Again, it is nothing personal. I do not know Geraldine Feeney and I do not have any reason to doubt her sincerity, impartiality or anything else like that. However, it is fundamentally extremely problematic. I have made a complaint to SIPO. I believe that the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, was in clear breach of the codes of conduct for Deputies and office holders. I presume that is the first, second or third complaint, or certainly an early complaint, on the desk of SIPO to investigate. Then, a person is appointed to the board after the board was left sitting two people short for a period of months. It was the case that finally - great - the positions were being filled, but then, it is someone who was formerly a lobbyist for the NAGP, the organisation that is due to be investigated. It is just incredible. It is mind-blowing stuff, in my opinion. Even if we look at the rules of SIPO, it is not possible for her to recuse herself from the investigation. She has to step aside from all the work of SIPO while the investigation is going on, and someone else will have to be appointed in any case if she is not to participate. I do not see on what basis that can happen.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the Bill, which I support.

See this speech in context