Regulation of Lobbying (IE0014)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Ireland, First Action Plan, 2014-16
Action Plan Cycle: 2014
Status: Inactive
Institutions
Lead Institution: Department of Public Expenditure & Reform
Support Institution(s): All public bodies will be involved in implementation once the Bill is enacted
Policy Areas
Legislation & Regulation, Lobbying, Participation in Lawmaking, Public Participation, Regulatory GovernanceIRM Review
IRM Report: Ireland End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Ireland 2014-2015 IRM Progress Report (Final)
Starred:
Yes
Early Results:
Outstanding
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information , Civic Participation , Public Accountability
Implementation i
Description
Secure Government approval for, publish and enact the regulation of Lobbying Bill. Development of a Transparency Code in relation to the transparent operation of working groups, task forces etc appointed by a Minister or Department.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
(✪) 3.4: Lobbying Regulation
Commitment Text:
Action 3.4 - Regulation Lobbying - Secure Government approval for, publish and enact the regulation of Lobbying Bill. Development of a Transparency Code in relation to the transparent operation of working groups, task forces etc appointed by a Minister or Department.
Responsible institution: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER)
Supporting institution(s): All public bodies will be involved in implementation once the Bill is enacted.
Start date: July 2014 End date: March 2015
Editorial note: Commitment 3.4 is clearly relevant to OGP values as written, has transformative potential impact, and is substantially or completely implemented and therefore qualifies as a starred commitment.
Commitment Aim
The 2015 Regulation of Lobbying Act’s main aim is to shed light on lobbying in the development of public policy.[Note 46: Link to the Act http://bit.ly/1ZZtWhc (last accessed September 9, 2015)] In this regard, the law seeks to add transparency and accountability to the overall policy-making process by allowing citizens to see which lobbyists were seeking to influence governmental departments making policy. The main principle guiding the law is to encourage transparency in the actions between government (including elected officials and civil servants) and all sectors of society on areas of policy that impact all citizens, primarily by developing a lobbying registrar where all lobbyists must register before contacting public officials.
Status
Midterm: Complete
This is a pre-existing initiative that seeks to introduce a Register of Lobbyists and new rules regarding the practice of lobbying as part of the Public Service Reform Programme launched by the Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform in November 2011. By April 2013, the Government approved the drafting of the Bill.
This commitment was completed in year one of the action plan: the bill was published in 2014, passed through both the Lower and Upper Chambers of Parliament, and signed into law in the first year of the action plan in early 2015.
As of September 2015, the public Registrar of Lobbyists in Ireland was set-up and fully functioning, with a newly appointed Registrar (Sherry Perrault) and team in place and housed in the Standards in Public Office (SIPO). In year two of the action plan, an Advisory Group has also been established and is comprised of various stakeholders, including from business, unions, and NGOs. The advisory group was initially set up by DPER, with input from the Standards in Public Office Commission with regard to membership. DPER envisaged participation from a wide cross-section of civil society, and accordingly identified a list of organisations from various sectors, sending a letter inviting them to nominate a representative. It was a targeted call rather than an open call per se, although having a plurality of actors serving on the Group was always envisaged and subsequently assured.
Did it open government?
Access to information: Outstanding
Civic participation: Did not change
Public Accountability: Outstanding
The change to government practice is outstanding on three main fronts related to OGP relevance. First, in terms of access to information, as of mid-September 2016, desk research showed that there is already over 5200 returns that the public can access to identify who is lobbying whom and about what, also reflecting the idea that lobbyists are complying with the rules.[Note 47: See: https://www.lobbying.ie/app/home/search?currentPage=0&pageSize=10&queryText=&subjectMatters=&subjectMatterAreas=&period=&returnDateFrom=&returnDateTo=&lobbyistId=&dpo=&publicBodys=&jobTitles=&client= ] Second, having such information makes it possible to hold both public and private officials accountable for their actions. According to the Irish Times, the Irish press has increasingly reported instances of high-powered lobbyists meeting with state officials, thus bringing these meetings to the attention of the public.[Note 48: See: http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/caveat-thank-you-for-lobbying-now-fill-out-the-register-1.2653796 ] Citizens armed with this information have new opportunities to hold officials accountable for their actions when developing public policy by, for example, not voting for certain officials in the next election. Furthermore, with such information available, citizens and members of civil soceity living in strong regulatory systems such as Ireland have new opportunities to better inform themselves about who are the key actors in state decisions, therefore increasing their participation in politics, if they deem that certain lobbysts are exercising undue influence. This relation between strength of regulatory frameworks and participation is further developed in a comparative study of lobbying regulations.[Note 49: Chari, R., J.Hogan and G. Murphy, Regulating Lobbying: a Global Comparison (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2012)]
Carried forward?
This commitment was not carried forward into the next action plan.
Commitments
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Promote Transparent Climate Policy Development
IE0031, 2016, Environment and Climate
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Support Public Participation Networks
IE0032, 2016, Capacity Building
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Improve Access to Justice: Reducing Costs
IE0033, 2016, Access to Justice
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Improve Access to Justice: Framework to Assist Vulnerable Persons
IE0034, 2016, Access to Justice
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Improve Access to Justice: Oversight of Legal Practitioners
IE0035, 2016, Access to Justice
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Enhance Citizen Engagement in Policy Making: General
IE0036, 2016, Capacity Building
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Enhance Citizen Engagement in Policy Making: Youth
IE0037, 2016, Marginalized Communities
-
Enhance Customer Engagement
IE0038, 2016, Access to Information
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Improve Access to Government Services Through Technology
IE0039, 2016, Capacity Building
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Participatory Budgeting
IE0040, 2016, Fiscal Openness
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Improve Transparency of Government Service Providers
IE0041, 2016, Access to Information
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Enhance Fiscal Transparency
IE0042, 2016, Fiscal Openness
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Introduce Modern Document Management Procedures
IE0043, 2016, Access to Information
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Develop an Open Data Strategy 2017-2020
IE0044, 2016, Access to Information
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Invest in Data Infrastructure That Will Result in Better Open Data
IE0045, 2016, Access to Information
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Develop a Code of Practice for the Governance of Charities
IE0046, 2016, Public Participation
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Public Sector Standards Bill
IE0047, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Establish a Register of Beneficial Ownership
IE0048, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Establishment of Best Practice Standards for Open Data
IE0001, 2014, Access to Information
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Establishment of Ireland’S Open Data Platform
IE0002, 2014, Access to Information
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Undertake an Audit of Key Datasets for Publication
IE0003, 2014, Access to Information
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Establish a Roadmap for the Open Data and an Evaluation Framework to Provide Assessment of the Ongoing Open Data
IE0004, 2014, Access to Information
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Establishment of an Open Data Ireland Governance Board (ODIGB) and Steering and Implementation Group (SIG) for Open Data Ireland
IE0005, 2014, Access to Information
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Signing up to the G8 Open Data Charter
IE0006, 2014, Access to Information
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Implementing Open Data
IE0007, 2014, Access to Information
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Improve Computer Literacy Through Implementation of Proposed New Digital Strategy for Schools
IE0008, 2014, Capacity Building
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Review National and International Practice to Develop Revised Principles / Code for Public Engagement/Consultation with Citizens, Civil Society and Others by Public Bodies.
IE0009, 2014, Public Participation
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Hold Referenda Arising from the Recommendations of the Constitutional Convention
IE0010, 2014, Gender
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Ethics Reform
IE0011, 2014, Anti-Corruption
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Strengthening Freedom of Information - Implement the Code of Practice for Freedom of Information (FOI).
IE0012, 2014, Access to Information
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Reform of FOI
IE0013, 2014, Access to Information
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Regulation of Lobbying
IE0014, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
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Encourage, Protect and Raise Awareness of Whistleblower Duties and Protections
IE0015, 2014, Anti-Corruption
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Measures to Increase Citizen Participation in Decision Making on Policy and Legislative Proposals. Systemic Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of Draft Bills
IE0016, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
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Develop and Deliver Access to Environmental Information (AIE) Training Module for Public Officials
IE0017, 2014, Access to Information
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Increase Citizen Participation at Local Level. Pilot Approach to Implementation of Public Participation Networks
IE0018, 2014, Private Sector
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Provide Legal Base for Public Participation Framework in Local Government
IE0019, 2014, Capacity Building
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Undertake a Feasibility Study on Possible Means of Enabling Further Citizen Engagement in Local Authority Budgetary Processes
IE0020, 2014, Fiscal Openness
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Support Children and Young People as Citizens. Develop, Finalise and Publish the First Government Strategy on Children and Young People's Participation in Decision-Making.
IE0021, 2014, Capacity Building
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Maximise Participation and Understanding of Young People in Civic Life
IE0022, 2014, Capacity Building
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Development of an ICT Strategy
IE0023, 2014,
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Data Sharing and Governance Bill
IE0024, 2014, E-Government
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Public Services Card
IE0025, 2014, E-Government
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Single Customer View
IE0026, 2014, E-Government
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Local Government Portal
IE0027, 2014, E-Government
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New Local Enterprise Offices
IE0028, 2014, Subnational
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Review and Enhancement of Complaints Procedures and Using Feedback to Improve Services Across the Public Service; a Review of Citizen Complaints Procedures Will Be Undertaken.
IE0029, 2014, Public Participation
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Enhance Customer Engagement
IE0030, 2014, Public Participation