Update On Lobbying In Ireland

The introduction of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 on 1 September 2015 was a significant development in transparency reforms in Ireland and was the subject of significant media coverage. Now that we are in the second reporting period for the purposes of the Act, it is appropriate to reflect on the first few months of its operation.

To date, 1,193 entities have registered as lobbyists, and these registered entities have recorded 2,742 lobbying communications. Some interesting statistics emerge as follows:

• "Health" has by far been the most lobbied public policy area, with 315 returns;
• "Health" has also been the industry area most commonly identified with by registrants with 98 organisations registered;