Objectives of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015

The Act is designed to provide information to the public about:

• Who is lobbying;
• On whose behalf is lobbying being carried out;
• What are the issues involved in the lobbying;
• What is the intended result of the lobbying;
• Who is being lobbied.

The Act provides for:

• The establishment and maintenance of a publicly accessible register of lobbying;
• Obligations on lobbyists to register and to provide information regularly about their lobbying activities, including, in the case of professional lobbyists, information about their clients;
• The introduction of a “cooling off” period during which lobbying activity may not be carried out by some former Designated Public Officials. This provision does not apply to TDs, Senators or MEPs.
• The Standards in Public Office Commission (Standards Commission) to be the regulator of lobbying.