Lobbyists’ not-so-public affairs

From kathleen barrington: 28 March 2010

By Kathleen Barrington

Last week, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny published the party’s New Politics document, which includes a proposal to register all lobbyists and to ensure their activities are overseen by the Standards in Public Office Commission.
Coincidentally, it was launched in the same week that Britain’s Channel 4 broadcast a riveting piece of television showing British politicians offering to help companies lobby the government for fees of up to £5,000 a day.
An undercover reporter posing as an executive with the fictitious subsidiary of a US ‘‘public affairs company’’ filmed soon-to-retire British politicians boasting that they could get privileged access to the corridors of power, including help with winning government contracts.
The programme raised many questions about whether the current regulations governing such activities were adequate to protect the British public interest.
Fine Gael’s proposed new system for regulating Irish lobbyists is loosely based on the Canadian model. The Canadians accept the right to lobby, but require lobbyists to disclose the names of their clients, the institutions that have been lobbied, the subject matter of the lobbying, the lobbying methods used, any government funding received by the lobbyists’ clients, an indication of whether the lobbyist was a former public office holder, and information about communications with certain public office holders.
The requirement is for regular reporting, in some cases on a monthly basis. There is also a five-year post-employment ban on certain public office holders from lobbying the government of Canada, though Fine Gael has indicated that it would settle for a one-year ban.
Many Irish public relations companies offer public affairs services supplied by executives who previously recently served in government – usually in an official capacity. However, in the absence of a register of lobbyists, the public doesn’t know who the lobbyists are lobbying; on whose behalf they are lobbying; whether that lobbying is successful; and whether measures introduced following lobbying by private interests are consistent with the public interest.
The need for greater transparency appears all the more relevant in cases where public affairs consultants are also on the boards of state-owned companies, as in the case of former Fine Gael minister Alan Dukes, who is currently a public interest director on the board of the nationalised Anglo Irish Bank and will soon be its chairman.
At the same time, Dukes is a consultant to Wilson Hartnell Public Relations (WHPR),which acts on behalf of a number of private institutions, including the troubled Quinn Group.
The big bets placed by Quinn Group founder Seán Quinn on Anglo Irish Bank’s share price contributed to the instability at the bank, which ultimately had to be bailed out by the taxpayer, while Quinn is reportedly one of Anglo’s biggest borrowers.
But Dukes says he hasn’t done any work for Quinn specifically, and is adamant that there is no conflict of interest. He also draws a distinction between lobbying and public affairs.
In an e-mail responding to questions from this newspaper, he said: ‘‘I am not a ‘lobbyist’: representation of clients’ legitimate interests is a minor and infrequent aspect of my work as a public affairs consultant with WHPR. I normally engage with clients at a much earlier and more fundamental stage of their policy process. The following answers should not be construed as indicating that I accept your assertion that I am a ‘lobbyist’.”
Dukes said he did not see a potential for conflict between his proposed role as a chairman of Anglo Irish Bank and his role as what the Insider termed a ‘‘lobbyist’’ with WHPR, which represents the Quinn Group. The Quinn Group is a big player in the property, cement, glass, general insurance and health insurance markets.
Dukes said he had never lobbied on behalf of the Quinn Group, Quinn Insurance or Seán Quinn. He also said he had never lobbied on behalf of competitors of the Quinn Group or competitors of Anglo Irish Bank.
He declined to supply a list of clients on whose behalf he had acted since becoming a consultant to WHPR. ‘‘This is none of your business. It is a matter between WHPR and its clients,” he wrote.
When asked if he could confirm how much Seán Quinn’s interests owed Anglo Irish Bank, and whether the loans were being repaid, he said. ‘‘No. Anglo Irish Bank respects client confidentiality, just as your bank does in relation to your personal account. You cannot be unaware of longstanding and standard practice in this matter, and it constantly amazes me that journalists persist in asking such questions.”
When asked if he agreed with Fine Gael’s proposals to introduce a register of lobbyists’ interests, he responded: ‘‘Judgment reserved.”
When asked if the recommendations of the Fine Gael Fair Care health reform group that he chaired could benefit or disadvantage the Quinn Group in any way, he said he did not know.
‘‘The working group was charged with developing the basis for a comprehensive health policy in the general public interest. It did not concern itself with the particular situation of any health insurer. Do you find it difficult to conceive of an objective examination of an issue of public interest?” he wrote.
Dukes confirmed that he received a nominal annual fee in respect of his membership of the board of WHPR, but denied that this gave rise to a potential conflict of interest given that WHPR receives fee income from Quinn.
When asked how much he would be paid as chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Dukes wrote: ‘‘I know I have seen the figure, but it has slipped my mind. Frankly, I couldn’t be bothered to find out now as the matter does not arise until next July and I have more urgent things on my mind.”
He had earlier pointed out that he was responding to the questions at 1.30am on Thursday morning, and that he considered it ‘‘unreasonable’’ to have been sent a list of questions at 5.28pm (on Wednesday) for response by a deadline of lunchtime the following day (Thursday).
A spokesman for WHPR said it adhered to a strict code of practice in relation to all public affairs activity undertaken on behalf of its clients and that it was satisfied that the issues raised by The Sunday Business Post were baseless.
‘‘Alan Dukes is a highly respected, non-executive director of the company and a consultant to our Public Affairs practice. He has never worked on any business related to the Quinn Group or the Quinn family,’’ WHPR said.
Dukes concluded by saying: ‘‘You are probing my integrity. I will regard your treatment of these answers as a test of yours. If you publish all of your questions, you must publish all of my answers. If you publish only some of your questions, you must publish my corresponding answers.”
The questions are not, however, about Dukes’s integrity – nobody is questioning that. They are about ensuring that citizens have sufficient information available to them to form a view on whether publicly-owned institutions are being run in the public interest. Especially state-owned institutions such as Anglo Irish Bank, which is expected to report a loss of almost €12 billion, on foot of €14 billion-worth of losses on its loans, this week.