Results 19,761-19,780 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I was hoping there would be an explanation of why the Deputy wanted to delete them. It is self-evident that information that would pose a threat to the safety of an individual should not be disclosed. Certainly, information that could pose a threat to the security of the State should not be disclosed. I do not see any reason it should be.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It is important to have the provision included. If there is information that would pose a threat to the security of the State, it should not be disclosed. Consequently, we have included the clause in the Bill.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Where?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Where would a threat to the safety of a person be covered?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Why would there be an objection to being explicit about it?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I can think of cases. For example, Ruhama could be lobbying for a legislative change to protect trafficked individuals who might be in an extremely vulnerable position. That is one that springs to mind instantly.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It might need to.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: If Ruhama was trying to break up a trafficking ring, it might be obliged to be specific.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Yes, it would, but it might also be captured by this legislation.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I do, but I wish to err on the side of safety. Where something is posing a manifest threat to the safety of a person, one must pause and think about it. Moreover, one must certainly think about something that might pose a threat to the safety of the security of the State.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I do not think that would be captured by the definitions I have set out.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Yes, but one must have an assurance that no action would be taken that would put at risk the security of the State. This needs to be defined clearly and I believe it would be. It certainly would not be captured by the instance the Deputy has just given, in my judgment.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It is the same approach, which we debated at some length, that I took, for example, in the Freedom of Information Bill. The approach is that there are things which should not be disclosed because they could pose a threat to the life or safety of an individual or undermine the security of the State. That was generally accepted.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 30: In page 7, to delete lines 28 to 30 and substitute the following:“(k) communications by a designated public official in his or her capacity as such; (l) communications which—(i) are made by a person who is employed by, or holds any office or other position in, a public service body in his or her capacity as such, or (ii) are made by a person engaged for...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: My point is that the same entity cannot be "the lobbied" and "the lobbying". Communications between members of the same Department are exempt because it is understood that if a principal officer is talking to an assistant secretary, that is not lobbying. I am providing for where an external person is designated, but it is not automatic that every semi-State body will be designated for this...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I will return to the committee in advance of making any such decision. As I said, what I intend to do in the first iteration of the Bill is to capture those groups that are designated public officials as set out in section 6(1). I have the power to broaden that list and will do so over time, in accordance with section 6(1)(g). I will be happy to hear the Deputy's views in that regard in...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Yes; what the Deputy fears will certainly not happen in the first year.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Section 5(3)(l) provides an exemption for certain communications between a body and a Minister who holds shares in that body, as I have just debated with Deputy Sean Fleming. This exemption is intended to cover governance matters in the ordinary course of business of a commercial semi-State body. Commercial semi-State bodies are of strategic importance and we have debated them in the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: To be helpful, it is intended that all other relevant communication, outside the narrow scope of governance, on sectoral or regulatory issues covering the environment or a sector in which the particular State body operates, will continue to be subject to a registration requirement, as set out in the Bill.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Committee Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 33: In page 7, line 32, after “in” to insert “, or has statutory functions in relation to,”.