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<p>This paper compares the amendments introduced by the Regulation of Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act 2023 with the original regulations of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The study was conducted using the Hired Guns Method for assessing the robustness of lobbying legislation, developed by the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI), allowing findings to be compared with lobbying regulations internationally. The 2015 legislation was introduced after years of tribunals, scandals, unfulfilled political promises, and economic crisis, in an effort to increase the public’s trust in politicians, representative institutions, democracy and the wider bureaucracy. The 2023 Amendment came in the wake of a 2020 lobbying scandal. The paper finds that, despite the CPI score remaining unchanged, in-depth examination of the legislation showed that the amendment introduced more rules and sanctions, particularly in relation to designated public officials, and closed off outstanding legislative loopholes.</p>
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This paper compares the amendments introduced by the Regulation of Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act 2023 with the original regulations of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The study was conducted using the Hired Guns Method for assessing the robustness of lobbying legislation, developed by the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI), allowing findings to be compared with lobbying regulations internationally. The 2015 legislation was introduced after years of tribunals, scandals, unfulfilled political promises, and economic crisis, in an effort to increase the public’s trust in politicians, representative institutions, democracy and the wider bureaucracy. The 2023 Amendment came in the wake of a 2020 lobbying scandal. The paper finds that, despite the CPI score remaining unchanged, in-depth examination of the legislation showed that the amendment introduced more rules and sanctions, particularly in relation to designated public officials, and closed off outstanding legislative loopholes.

Regulating more? Comparing Ireland’s original and amended lobbying legislation

Administration

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This paper compares the amendments introduced by the Regulation of Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act 2023 with the original...

Regulating more? Comparing Ireland’s original and amended lobbying legislation

Published Online: May 11, 2024

Page range: 1 - 28

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0009

Keywords
Lobbying, regulation, Ireland, legislation, Centre for Public Integrity, CPI

© 2024 John Hogan, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Regulating more? Comparing Ireland’s original and amended lobbying legislation

Published Online: May 11, 2024

Page range: 1 - 28

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0009

KeywordsLobbying, regulation, Ireland, legislation, Centre for Public Integrity, CPI

© 2024 John Hogan, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Lobbying, regulation, Ireland, legislation, Centre for Public Integrity, CPI