The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 provides that the Standards in Public Office Commission, an independent body, is the Registrar of Lobbying. The Standards Commission has a specific role under section 17 of the Act to issue guidance and information to promote an understanding of the legislation. The Standards Commission has prepared an information guide on the Regulation of Lobbying. It has also prepared guidelines for people carrying on lobbying activities and for Designated Public Officials. All of these guidelines are available on www.lobbying.ie . The Standards Commission can be contacted at info@lobbying.ie for specific queries regarding the operation / interpretation of the Act.
Section 5 (1) (a) of the Act provides that if a person makes, manages or directs the making of relevant communications on behalf of a client in return for payment, that person carries on lobbying activities. A client in this context includes representative bodies with one or more employees. If a representative body engages such a person as a professional lobbyist to lobby on their behalf in return for payment, the professional lobbyist would be obliged to register the relevant communications under section 5 (1) (a). That registration (which would include details of the client) should meet the obligations to register under the Act in circumstances where no employed personnel or office holders of the representative body engage independently in lobbying.
