Lobbying Bill to focus on nature of contact

The Government’s long-awaited legislation to register lobbyists will focus on the nature, targets and intensity of their activities rather than on having every contact recorded.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin will bring the Registration of Lobbying Bill to Cabinet tomorrow. If approved, it will see the completion of one of the major planks of the Government's reform programme.

According to the department, the legislation will not differ substantially from the draft of the legislation published last year. It proposes the establishment of a register of lobbying, which will be accessible online.

The register, which will be overseen by a regulator, will allow the public to learn the identity of those who are lobbying Government Ministers, Government departments and public bodies in relation to specified activities. It will also disclose which public official or officials have been contacted, the nature of the contact, and the intensity of the communications and activity.

Decisions

One of the key policy decisions made by the Department was that not every contact would need to be recorded.

The rationale for this is to avoid causing an unnecessary administrative burden on those who are registering.

In a communication during the course of the consultation period a senior official explained the policy objective as being to “capture information in a more systematic way in one location [so as] to provide greater transparency as to whom is in communication with whom and in respect of what”.

In tandem with the register, a new code of conduct is also expected to be drawn up, which will be agreed with the new registrar.

Exemptions

There are some important exemptions. There are provisions that will ensure that the tax exemption status of charities will not be adversely affected by registration for lobbying on matters that touch on its charitable purposes.

In addition, micro-enterprises (defined as those with 10 employees or fewer) will also be exempt on the basis that their resources are such that to comply with the requirements might impose an onerous burden.

This provision has been criticised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which has argued that it will place small and medium employers in a more favourable position than unions in relation to lobbying.

The legislation will also attempt to tackle an issue that has given rise to some contention over the years, namely senior public servants (be they politicians or civil servants) retiring and immediately commencing lobbying in that area. The legislation is to provide for a “cooling-off period” of one year.

This area is fraught with legal and constitutional complexities and so rather than imposing a blanket ban on lobbying for that one-year period, there is a requirement that the person apply to the registrar for approval to carry out lobbying activities within that year.