Fórsa has submitted the union’s first set of returns to the Lobby Register for 2019. The returns cover the period from 1st September to 31st December 2018.
Since the introduction of the Regulation of Lobbying Act in 2015, lobbying organisations are required to publish their returns no later than 21 days after the end of the relevant reporting period.
Fórsa submitted 10 returns for the most recent reporting period. The deadline for submissions for this period expired this week (21st January).
The latest lobbying returns submitted by Fórsa cover the following matters:
Failure to submit a return of lobbying activities carried out during the period by the deadline is a contravention of the Regulation of Lobbying Act.
Current enforcement provisions give the Standards in Public Office Commission the authority to investigate and prosecute contraventions of the Act and to levy fixed payment notices for late filing of lobbying returns.
Fórsa members who undertake lobbying activity are not required to make a return unless they are lobbying under instruction from their union, such as in the event of a ‘grassroots’ campaign. For example, the union’s Support our Secretaries campaign included an instruction to all school secretary members to contact their local constituency public representatives seeking support of the campaign.
All lobbying activity undertaken by Fórsa staff is reportable, apart from activity classified as ‘excepted communications’ under the legislation.
For more details about the legislation and the register, visit the Lobbying.ie website.
See also: Fórsa trade union profile page on Lobbying.ie.
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