Lobbyists slow to disclose details on database

Lobbyists are proving slow to embrace new disclosure obligations, with just eight individuals and organisations submitting details of their lobbying activities to date.

That is despite 452 entering themselves on the lobbying register since this became a legal requirement on September 1. None of the eight who have made returns detailing activities are professional consultants or lobbyists. Six are non-profit bodies that lobbied on funding and policy issues, and two are small businesses that lobbied local councillors on their own behalf, rather than any client.

Returns must be made at least three times a year, detailing lobbying activities for the previous four months if not already disclosed. As the first returns deadline is not until January, no lobbyist is in breach of the law. But returns can be made at any time and by not submitting them on an as-you-go basis, lobbyists are storing up a lot of work and a huge volume of information to submit in January.

Lobbying regulator Sherry Perreault said she always expected that some organisations would not make returns before deadline. “There will be people that will submit their returns as they’re completing their activity but there are going to be a number of organisations that are lobbying on a more ongoing basis and they won’t actually have the information that has to go in their returns until the end of December, so I don’t expect them to submit their returns until January,” she said.

“I hope that people will submit their returns once their lobbying activity is complete for the relevant period, but there will be a number of people that haven’t completed it until the end of the relevant period and that’s very natural.”

She said she was confident the online public-access database lobbying.ie, to which lobbyists have to submit their information, was capable of dealing with a last -minute rush.

“We have anticipated that there will be high volumes in January and we’ve stress- tested the system to ensure that it’s able to deal with that, so it does have the capacity to handle multiple returns in the first weeks of January.” Groups and individuals should determine for themselves whether any of their activities constitute lobbying and so far 452 charities, professional bodies, consultancies, public relations, marketing and law firms, and individuals have signed up to the register.

Among them are former politicians Noel Dempsey, Liz O’Donnell, and Avril Doyle, though none have yet submitted details of any activities. Ms Perreault said while the investigation and enforcement provisions of the disclosure legislation do not take effect until next September, she would not wait until then to take action if an anomaly came to light.

“In this first year our emphasis is on ensuring people understand their obligations and that they are aware of the legislation, so there is no harm in following up with people just to make sure they understand.

“So if somebody raised something and brought it to our attention and said, we understand that this organisation has been lobbying and they haven’t submitted a return, we may want to ensure that that organisation is aware of the legislation.”

Once the enforcement provisions come into effect, the regulator can prosecute for breaches of the law, with sanctions ranging from a €200 fine for late returns, to jail for serious offences.