Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015

The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 provides that the Standards in Public Office Commission will establish and maintain an online register of lobbying activity.

The purpose of the register is to make information available to the public on the identity of those communicating with designated public officials on specific policy, legislative matters or prospective decisions.

Lobbyists must report on their interactions with the Designated Public Officials.

Section 6(4) of the Act requires each public body to publish a list of designated public officials of the body.

The purpose of the list is twofold:

• to allow members of the public to identify those persons who are designated public officials
• to act as a resource for lobbyists filing a return to the Register who may need to source a designated public official’s details

The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has four Working Groups operating under the Transparency Code, namely the Early Years Forum, the Labour Employer Economic Forum, the LGBTI+ National Inclusion Strategy Committee and the Funding Model Expert Group.

The Department's Designated Public Officials are set out below.