Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 September 2019
250. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of civil servants that have left and-or retired from his Department in the past ten years that were bound by a cooling-off period in respect of taking up new employment in the private sector by grade, year and sector the staff moved on to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38155/19]
View answer251. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of civil servants that have left and-or retired from his Department in the past ten years that were not bound by a cooling-off period in respect of taking up new employment in the private sector by grade, year, and sector the staff moved on to; the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38171/19]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 250 and 251 together.
The Regulation of Lobbying Act was enacted in 2015. Section 22 of the Act provides that specific categories of Designated Public Officials (“DPOs”) are subject to a one-year “cooling-off” period, during which they cannot engage in lobbying activities in specific circumstances, or be employed by, or provide services to, a person carrying on lobbying activities in specific circumstances.
The relevant DPOs for whom a “cooling-off” period applies are Ministers of the Government and Ministers of State, Special Advisers appointed under section 11 of the Public Services Management Act 1997 and public servants prescribed as a DPO by the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform under section 6(2) of the Regulation of Lobbying Act, such as Secretary General, Second Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretary or Director. A list of current DPOs is maintained on my Department's website and can be viewed at the following link :
https://www.housing.gov.ie/corporate/compliance/regulation-lobbying/regulation-lobbying-designated-public-officials.
The cooling-off period is a statutory requirement and applies for the full one-year term unless the relevant DPO applies to the Standards in Public Office Commission for consent to waive or reduce their cooling-off period. It is the responsibility of the relevant DPO to seek consent prior to taking up an offer of employment (or to provide services). Statistics on the number of applications for consent under section 22 of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 are included in the annual Regulation of Lobbying report published by the Standards in Public Office Commission.
The Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour sets out further guidance on the acceptance of outside appointments and of consultancy engagement following resignation or retirement (Section 20). Civil Servants who hold positions which are “designated positions” for the purposes of the Ethics Acts shall not, within twelve months of resigning or retiring from the service, accept an offer of appointment from an employer outside the Civil Service or accept an engagement in a particular consultancy project where the nature and terms of such appointment or engagement could lead to a conflict of interest, without first obtaining approval from the appropriate authority. Officers below Assistant Secretary level must apply to the Secretary General or Head of Office in which they are serving, or have last served before retirement or resignation. Officers at and above Assistant Secretary level must apply to the Outside Appointments Board.
One DPO, a former Special Adviser, applied to the Standards in Public Office Commission in April 2017, under Section 22 of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015, for a waiver of the "cooling off period" in order to take up a post in public relations.
