LOBBYING LEGISLATION designed to counteract corruption and abuse in political and administrative life has been outlined by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin. It provides for a mandatory register of lobbyists, a code of conduct and a range of sanctions. It represents a well-meaning effort to control abuses by public relations agencies, former government officials and individual lobbyists. But the fact that only remunerated individuals in the lobbying industry are affected by the proposals leaves a yawning gap that could be exploited by senior executives in major enterprises.
Before any budget, executives from financial institutions, the construction industry, farming organisations, trade unions and various business interests beat a path to the doors of government ministers and appeal for special treatment. Many requests are contained in pre-budget submissions and are promoted separately by public relations agencies, but some specific requirements are conveyed privately. Many of those involved in this secondary process would not qualify as paid lobbyists/remunerated individuals under the proposed legislation and yet they secure hearings at the highest level. Lobbying and representations by interest groups are an intrinsic part of political life and exist from the constituency clinic of a TD, to senior government officials and ministerial offices. It forms part of a necessary two-way exchange within a democratic system. But when conducted in secret and in contravention of the public interest, it brings government, politics and public administration into disrepute. The only way such damage can be minimised is through maximum transparency. As the Mahon tribunal observed: corruption thrives in shadows and in darkness.
For this legislation to have a positive and lasting impact, other measures will have to accompany it. The Freedom of Information Act, filleted by previous governments, should be fitted with sharp new teeth. The blanket ban on the release of Cabinet material and the basis on which decisions are taken should be revoked, other than where a national interest is involved. Special efforts should be made to prosecute those wealthy individuals whose corrupt behaviour enriched themselves and helped to corrode financial and administrative standards. The financial affairs of political parties, containing details of all their receipts and expenditures, should be disclosed.
Pre-budget submissions and other formal representations should be recorded in detail and where applicable, debated by all-party Dáil committees in advance of Cabinet decisions. The distance that has to be travelled by the banks in rebuilding public confidence was cruelly exposed during the week when Minister for Finance Michael Noonan remarked: “we cannot believe what they say”. Some voters have become equally disillusioned by political behaviour. Repairing that damage will take time and the establishment of a fairer and more transparent administrative system.