Results 8,421-8,440 of 34,780 for speaker:Seán Fleming
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: We are now excluding the possibility of including people who lobby Ministers when they are outside the State. We are excluding organisations from outside the State from being captured under this legislation if they lobby a Minister. Following discussion on one of the earlier amendments yesterday evening, the Minister excluded lobbying for positions on State boards from being included in the...
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: We are excluding lobbying of Ministers for positions on State boards from the legislation. We are now excluding organisations from outside the State who lobby a Minister from the Bill.
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I know the point the Minister is making. I have a public record of supporting the principle of the Bill on Second Stage and did not vote against it on Committee Stage. I do not propose to vote against its passage on Report and Final Stages. All I am saying is that the Bill, while good, is too narrow. Given that we have gone so far to introduce the Bill, we could have done a little bit...
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I will withdraw it.
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 43:In page 10, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:“(l) EirGrid Plc.,”.There are quite a number of amendments to be dealt with, all of which cover one point. I want to go through them individually, not in an argumentative way. The section I seek to amend is the definition section of the Bill, section 7. It defines a public service body, and...
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: Will they be included in the legislation?
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: That is good, and I am happy with that. Amendments Nos. 41 to 52 and 68 to 70 are included in this group. At the very end of the legislation there is a list of "bodies that are not public service bodies", as indicated by the heading of the Schedule as proposed by the Minister. There may be good reason for including all of these, including commercial grounds, and I would be happy to go...
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: The Minister has listed public bodies, including the NTMA and NAMA. Why did he need to list these if they are all under the Department of Finance anyway? I do not understand why he listed those if he is saying that any organisation under the auspices of a Department is essentially included under his definition of a Department of State. Why did he list all these? When I saw he had listed...
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: The Revenue Commissioners is a Department of State. I have learned something new today.
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: That is fine. Are An Bord Pleanála and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Departments of State, which will be included as a public body even though they are not listed? They are included under the parent body.
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I will ask the question because I only have one more opportunity to speak. If the Minister is saying An Bord Pleanála, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the EPA do not need to be listed because their legal standing is captured by the parent Department, that is good. I just do not know why they are not listed if that is not the case. Will the Minister clarify why...
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: That sounds great, and maybe it is, but it is confusing for anybody reading the Schedule. The heading states bodies that are not public service bodies but now the Minister is telling me that essentially they are all captured.
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: 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...
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: The Minister might explain whether that covers all the business activities of the organisation. If RTE wants to lobby about the licence fee, is that exempt? Is that covered under the body corporate exemption or will it be listed as lobbying?
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I will press a number of these amendments because there is a little bit of ambiguity.
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 45:In page 10, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: "(l) Ervia,".
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 47:In page 10, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: "(l) An Post,".
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 68:In page 25, to delete line 13.
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 69:In page 25, to delete line 15.
- Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jan 2015)
Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 70:In page 25, to delete line 20.