Rabbitte wants code for lobbyists

Tough new legislation must be put in place to prevent lobbyists gaining access to a politically influential "golden circle" for high fees, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has declared.

Mr Rabbitte said it was time for the State "to move to a new phase of corporate social responsibility", one where business acted ethically and in the longer-term interest of the public.

Former civil servants should be barred for two years from working for lobbying firms, while a public register should be held of all individuals in such work.

Mr Rabbitte was speaking at a conference in Dublin on corporate social responsibility hosted by US multinational Johnson and Johnson.

Pointing to planning corruption cases, he said: "From our experience we cannot entirely rely on the good will of businesses or of the lobbyists themselves to ensure appropriate behaviour and best practice."

Claiming that lobbying firms were opposed to a public register, he said: "What are they so afraid of?

"What do they wish to hide? Would they prefer to see lobbying continue surreptitiously behind the walls of the Fianna Fáil hospitality tent at the Galway Races, rather than have it done openly and accountably?"

He said lobbyists should be required to make much greater disclosure about their activities.

"We will end 'inside tracks' and 'golden circles' by forbidding public servants and special advisers in the public service to lobby their former employers until two years after they have left their positions."

Lobbyists would also have to obey a strict code of conduct and be subject to examination by the Standards in Public Office Commission.

However, Mr Rabbitte's criticisms of political lobbyists has raised the hackles of the president of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII), Pat Montague, who was one of Mr Rabbitte's supporters during his campaign for the Labour Party leadership.

"Contrary to suggestions made, public relations practitioners who are members of the PRII are not in any way afraid of greater openness, transparency and accountability in the lobbying process," he said.

The PRII supported the introduction of a statutory public register for lobbyists, he added.