LAST UPDATE | 13 Nov 2022

“THE RETURNS ARE not complete” and it is important for the Standards in Public Office to pursue this. 

That is how John Devitt, Chief Executive of Transparency International Ireland, reacted to the findings of our latest in-depth series with investigative platform Noteworthy.

The joint investigation found almost 400 lobbying returns in which former government officials incorrectly appeared as ‘ordinary’ lobbyists on the register.

Reporters Cormac Fitzgerald for Noteworthy and Stephen McDermott of The Journal trawled through the lobbying register to create a list of former high-ranking public officials who have been involved in the current or previous governments.

This work enabled the extent of lobbying by former senior public officials in Ireland to be revealed for the first time in our REVOLVING DOOR series. 

This week, as a bonus episode of The Explainer brought to you by Noteworthy, Susan Daly chats with Fitzgerald and McDermott about the their findings.

https://soundcloud.com/the-explainer-podcast/by-noteworthy-what-are-the-problems-with-lobbying-in-ireland/s-HbqPvPbwHQ5?si=bfa77e0e29ea471798268ae4cec484b2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

RELATED READS

• Former Government officials’ details missing from hundreds of lobbying returns
• Revolving Door: Revealing the relationship between government officials and lobbyists

This episode was put together by Susan Daly, Maria Delaney and producer Laura Byrne.