Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 65: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views regarding political reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3777/12]

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will confirm the aspects of the programme for Government political reform commitments that will be delivered in 2012. [3805/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 83 together.

My Department is responsible for a number of commitments in the Programme for Government that form part of the Government's overall political reform agenda. These include:-

introducing a statutory register of lobbyists, and rules concerning the practice of lobbying;

legislating for a reformulated code of laws, replacing both the Ministers and Secretaries Acts and the Public Service Management Act, on the legal relationship between Ministers and their civil servants and their legal accountability for decisions and for management of Departments; and

prioritising a referendum to protect the right of citizens to communicate in confidence with public representatives.

Work is ongoing in my Department in relation each of these areas.

Regarding a statutory register of lobbyists, and rules concerning the practice of lobbying, the Public Service Reform Plan contains a commitment to prepare legislation to meet this commitment. The Government Reform Unit of my Department is currently reviewing the approaches in place in the EU and internationally to the regulation of lobbyists. This process, which will identify best practice internationally, will help to inform and guide the design of proposals for the regulatory regime in Ireland. In parallel with this work my Department is currently seeking submissions from interested parties on a number of key issues relating to options for the organisation and implementation of a regulatory system for lobbying in Ireland. A notice was recently placed in newspapers directing interested parties to explanatory documents on my Department's website with a view to receiving submissions by 29 February 2012.

I remain committed to bringing forward the reform required in the context of commitments on accountability arrangements, as set out in the Programme for Government. Legislative change to clarify accountability arrangements is a key initiative of the Government's Public Service Reform Plan that was published in November 2011.

In addition, my Department is working with the Office of the Attorney General on the issue of the protection of communication between the citizen and their public representatives. An important element of the Government's response to this commitment, included in the Public Service Reform Plan, comprises the proposed 'Protected Disclosure (Whistleblowing)' legislation in respect of which the preparation of legislative proposals, subject to Government approval, for the drafting of a Bill over the first half of this year is at an advanced stage.