The cosy relationship between lobbyists and Government must end.
Time and time again, we have seen politicians leave office and become lobbyists, going from regulating industries to working for them.
We saw this starkly when Fine Gael’s Michael D’Arcy was revealed as the new CEO of a group lobbying Government on behalf of the financial sector – just months after he himself was a minister in the Finance Department.
He went from deciding what laws banks should follow, to then advocating on behalf of those
very institutions.
In 2018, Fine Gael’s Brian Hayes left politics to become chief executive of the Banking and Payment Federation – lobbying on behalf of the banking industry.
For years, Ireland suffered under the infamous “Galway races tent” culture of Fianna Fail.
Politicians rubbed shoulders with the elite, while failing to regulate them properly.
This revolving door system means the Government is far too close to the industries it is supposed to be regulating.
It’s why the Government has failed time and time again to properly regulate the banks
so ordinary people can get fair treatment.
It’s why insurance premiums remain so high, yet the insurance industry gets away with scarcely any action from the Government.
Today I am publishing a motion to finally end this scandal.
The revolving door between vested interests and governments has gone on for far too long and it’s ordinary people who are paying the price.
It’s time for the Government to serve the people, not their friends in the elite.
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