Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach to begin detailed scrutiny of Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2020

The meeting at 1.30pm in Committee Room 3 of Leinster House will discuss the Bill with Professor Gary Murphy, and representatives of Transparency International Ireland and the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO).

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy John McGuinness said: “This is a Private Members Bill introduced by Deputies Pearse Doherty and Mairéad Farrell. The Bill proposes amendments to the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015, to extend the definition of persons to which the Act applies and that the Code of Conduct be put before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

“The legislation also proposes to provide SIPO with further powers to investigate and report on breaches of the Code of Conduct, to extend the cooling-off period to two years, and to ensure that Designated Public Officials are aware of post-employment obligations. The Committee looks forward to meeting with Professor Murphy and the representatives of SIPO and Transparency International to begin our detailed scrutiny of this Bill.”

The Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach has 13 Members, nine from the Dáil and four from the Seanad.

The meeting in Committee Room 3 can be viewed live on Oireachtas.ie.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.