Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 8, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following:"(p) any communication, howsoever made, by a person specified in subsection (2)(a),(2)(b) and (2)(c) where the purpose of that communication is to disclose relevant wrongdoings.".

I welcome the Minister back to the Seanad. As he knows, the last time this Bill was before the House, I tabled an amendment that I believed would prevent whistleblowers from coming within the rubric of lobbying as defined in the Bill. The Minister told me it was certainly not the Government's "intention that matters which are basically an essential part of whistleblowing would be or could be relevant matters to be registered under this Bill". He assured me that the provisions of section 5(9) would preclude whistleblowing from being defined as lobbying. The definition of "relevant matter" for the purposes of lobbying in section 5(9) is worth noting. It provides:

"relevant matter" means any matter relating to—(a) the initiation, development or modification of any public policy or of any public programme,

(b) the preparation or amendment of an enactment, or

(c) the award of any grant, loan or other financial support, contract or other agreement, or of any licence or other authorisation involving public funds,apart from any matter relating only to the implementation of any such policy, programme, enactment or award or of a technical nature.

I wish to reiterate my concerns. I look forward to hearing from the Minister on this matter. I have serious reservations regarding the protection of sources where an organisation might approach a Member of the Oireachtas with confidential information regarding actual or alleged wrongdoing. As I said previously, there is a subtle but importance difference between lobbying with the aim of changing official discourse or decision-making on a given issue and disclosing information with the aim of changing official discourse or decision-making on a given issue. Furthermore, this legislation places the Standards in Public Office Commission in the position of interpreting the balance of disclosure in this legislation. It will have to decide whether lobbying has occurred. I have expressed concern in the past about the commission's expansive interpretation of legislative provisions, particularly section 49 of the Electoral Act 1997 around including charities in the section under organisations acting with political purposes. My principal concern with regard to this legislation is that there is no provision for the disclosure of certain contacts to be exempted where privacy and confidentiality are important reasons for the person or organisation coming forward in the first instance. I do not wish to rehearse in full the concerns I set out the previous time we debated this Bill. I think it would be fair to say the Minister appeared to agree on that occasion that there is a potential issue here. I think he said he would write to the Attorney General in this regard. I wonder if he can advise us now if his concerns and mine were so addressed.