Organisation information
Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
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:
The Department of Health's Designated Public Officials are set out below.
| Susan Mitchell | Special Adviser to Minister Donnelly |
| Paraic Gallagher | Press and Communications Adviser to Minister Donnelly |
| Ian Hutchinson | Special Adviser to the Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy |
The purpose of the Transparency Code is to ensure that Designated Public Officials understand how the system works and how they can support the effective implementation of the legislation.
While Designated Public Officials are not the focus of the rules regarding the registration and reporting of lobbying, any relevant communication with a Designated Public Official must be reported by the lobbyists in accordance with the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015.
The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 does not seek to capture and register interactions within groups, such as task forces and working groups as lobbying communications, where appropriate transparency arrangements are in place. The Transparency Code outlines the groups to which these arrangements apply, and the transparency arrangements themselves.
In line with the principles of openness and transparency, the following group operates under the guidelines set out in the Transparency Code. This means that the group's membership, work programme, and the minutes and agendas of all meetings are published here on this website.