Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the House for inviting me here. I welcome the students from Ballybrack. I am not sure whether this is the most exciting debate of the day.

Lobbying is an essential element of a well-functioning and mature democracy. The institutions of Government need to hear from varying interests in order to make well informed and grounded decisions balancing wider societal needs against the needs, expectations and experiences of varying interests across the economic and social spectrum.

The aim of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 is not to restrict this flow of perspectives feeding into policymaking but rather to bring about significantly greater transparency around this process. There is a strong public interest in identifying who is lobbying whom about what. The Act is specifically designed to achieve this goal through the establishment of a web-based registration system of lobbying activity. Currently, there are about 2,500 organisations and individuals registered on the online lobbying register with nearly 75,000 returns available for examination by the public. This Bill before the House today will amend the existing Act in order to build on the current strong legislative foundation and further strengthen Ireland’s lobbying laws, thus ensuring that the regulation of lobbying framework remains up to date and fit for purpose.

To date, three statutory reviews have taken place under the 2015 Act. The first was in 2017, another in 2019 and the most recent was in 2020. The recommendations of the 2020 review informed the reforms which are being introduced in this Bill. These include bringing certain business groupings with no employees within the scope of the Act and requiring that members of each group be named on lobbying returns to ensure the groups do not avoid the requirement to register; extending the Act’s scope to include non-remunerated officeholders in order to capture all relevant lobbying activity; introducing legislative provisions to improve the operation of the online lobbying regulator; introducing a new relevant contravention in the Act covering the taking of any action by a person that has the intended purpose of avoiding the obligations to either register or submit lobbying returns to the commission; and amending the Act to make failure to comply with the cooling-off provisions of the Act a relevant contravention. A system of administrative sanctions, operated by the commission, will be introduced in this regard. This system will involve minor or major sanctions. The sanctions proposed include a caution or reprimand, a monetary penalty of up to €25,000 and a prohibition from lobbying of up to two years.

In regard to the development of the Bill, I would like to thank the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach for its careful consideration of the general scheme of this Bill in pre-legislative scrutiny. The committee, while broadly supportive of the measures proposed in the general scheme, made seven recommendations. These were considered in detail. Four of these recommendations required clarification and a commitment to ensure sufficient capacity to implement any changes, which have been provided to the committee. The remaining recommendations, if adopted, would give rise to significant legal and policy issues and I have responded to the committee directly on these.

I would like to now turn to the Bill before us and briefly go through each section. If any Member feels that a technical briefing on the Bill would be helpful, I will make my officials available to assist in this regard. Section 1 identifies the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 as the principal Act being amended. Section 2 provides for an amendment to allow for the period between statutory reviews of the Act to be extended from three to five years. Section 3 amends the provisions relating to regulations made under the Act, allowing the commission to make regulations. Section 4 provides for an extension to the definition of lobbying in relation to the development or zoning of land, certain informal business groups, non-remunerated office holders and communications made by a political party to its members. Section 5 inserts a definition of "company" into the Act.

Section 6 provides for a prohibition on registered persons from lobbying where they have notified the commission that they have ceased to carry on lobbying activities. Section 7 amends the provisions dealing with certain details to be supplied by applicants who wish to be included on the lobbying register, including, for example, that persons applying for registration must give the name of every person who is a member of an informal business group. Section 8 amends the provisions relating to the returns to be made by a registered person.

Section 9 makes amendments regarding relevant contraventions by introducing new relevant contraventions for certain persons, namely, carrying on lobbying activities while one’s registration has been marked as having ceased; taking any action with the purpose of avoiding one’s obligations concerning registration or the making of returns, which is the anti-avoidance clause; and where required, failing to apply to the commission for consent to take up a specific employment or position in certain circumstances during the 12-month cooling-off period subsequent to leaving a position as a relevant designated public official, DPO.

Section 10 amends provisions dealing with offences, so that it provides, in effect, that contravening section 22 of the Act, while a relevant contravention, will not be a criminal offence. Section 11 amends section 21 of the Act so that the section clearly provides that the commission can serve fixed payment notices for the late filing of lobbying returns electronically. Section 12 strengthens provisions relating to post-term employment as a lobbyist. It also establishes how applications for consent are to be dealt with by the commission, and it provides for obligations for public service bodies.

Section 13 provides for the introduction of a new system of administrative sanctions to be administered by the commission relating to breaches of post-term employment restrictions and the avoidance of a person’s obligations to register and submit returns. Section 14 sets out the matters to be considered by the commission in determining the amount of any financial sanction to be imposed under the new system of administrative sanctions. Section 15 provides for the payment of any financial sanction imposed under the new system of administrative sanctions.

Section 16 provides for the appeals mechanism to the Circuit Court relating to decisions of the commission to impose a sanction under the new system of administrative sanctions. Section 17 provides that where a person does not appeal a major sanction, the commission must apply to the Circuit Court for confirmation of the decision to impose the major sanction concerned. Section 18 details that the commission must publish a code for the conduct of investigations and for the conduct of proceedings before the commission relating to the new system of administrative sanctions. Section 19 provides for the electronic serving of notices.

Section 20 is a technical amendment required to update a legislative reference. Section 21 amends section 25 of the Act to provide that the commissions must include information on any decisions made on relevant contraventions and any administrative sanctions imposed in its annual report. Section 22 deals with the delegation of functions by the commission. Section 23 amends the Schedule to the Act, which lists those bodies that are not public service bodies due to changes made to the harbours legislation. Section 24 sets out the short title of the Bill and provides the commencement arrangements for the Bill.

I look forward to hearing the contributions of Senators during this debate and I hope the House will support the passage of the Bill.