Gerald Nash (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are all concerned about transparency in public life. Yesterday was actually a good day for transparency in public life in Ireland because, as a result of the Lobbying Act introduced by the Labour Party in the last Government, the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPOC, published its first report concerning the behaviour of registered lobbyists in the State. The report found that 2,500 returns were made by 1,000 registered lobbyists. There is still more to be done around this issue and we would like to see SIPOC given more teeth to investigate breaches of the Act and to ensure there is more compliance than seems to be the case at the moment. I do not believe that anybody in all seriousness would accept that there should only be 2,500 returns on 1,000 registered lobbyists in the State. We know that the picture is actually very different from that.