Background
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce a statutory register of lobbyists, and rules concerning the practice of lobbying.
The Public Service Reform Programme launched by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on 17 November 2011 contains a commitment to prepare legislation to meet this objective in 2012.
Context
The Government Reform Unit in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has commenced a review of the international approaches to the regulation of lobbyists to help inform the design of national proposals to meet the commitment contained in the Programme for Government and the Public Service Reform Plan.
Consultation Process
In order to further inform the Department’s work, submissions were invited from interested parties on key issues relating to options for the design, structure and implementation of an effective regulatory system for lobbying in Ireland.
This consultation process was based on the agreed OECD Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying which was the subject of a Recommendation by the OECD Council in February 2010.
The main issues in respect of which information and views are requested are identified in a number of questions related to each of the OECD Principles available here.
The consultation period has now ceased and submissions were recevied from:
Some key issues emerging from the submissions:
- Support for regulation of lobbying – there is overwhelming support for the proposal in principle. Some concerns are expressed that regulation should not hinder interaction with Government.
- Scope of registration – the submissions include varied opinions on which organisations and groups should be included. The views expressed relate to professional lobbyists, representative bodies, charities, trade unions and employer groups, professional services (accounting, legal firms), not for profit organisations and grassroots advocacy.
- Status of Charities – the submissions express a concern that advocacy activities be treated differently or excluded and that the tax status of charities should not be compromised by their inclusion in a lobbying register.
- Definition of lobbying – there is broad consensus that clarity is required on the definition of lobbying. Issues raised include discussion as to whether a threshold should apply below which regulation would not apply i.e % of time spent on lobbying, budget, size of organisation, status and purpose of organisation, etc. The preservation of normal constituent access to political representatives is also raised.
- Ease of use – there is general agreement on need for accessibility & minimum bureaucracy in registering
- Costs – The general view emerging from the submissions is that costs should not apply to those registering.
- Detail of information to be supplied on register – there are varied opinions on level of detail necessary. Views range from registration of basic details on the organisation and subject matter to dates and descriptions of meetings, details of funding sources, financial information re spend on lobbying, background of individuals, etc.
- Code of conduct – those who commented on this issue favour a code of conduct to accompany regulation.
- Cooling off period - general support for the idea of 2 year period prior to re-employment of politicians or public servants where a conflict of interest exists.
- Oversight – there is support for independent oversight of the regulatory system.
Next steps:
The Department will now proceed to develop a policy paper on the issue taking account of the submissions received and will organise a conference to provide a further opportunity for interested stakeholders to contribute to the development of policy in this area.
Useful public information on the regulation of lobbying internationally can be found at, for example:-
www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/lobbying
