Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has defended Ireland’s approach to NGO lobbying, insisting that the country’s system ensures transparency and accountability when it comes to State-funded bodies advocating for policy change.
His comments come as EU lawmakers scrutinise the funding and lobbying practices of NGOs in Brussels.
In response to queries about whether Ireland should adopt stricter oversight on State-funded NGOs lobbying the government at a press briefing in Dublin this week, Donohoe said he believes the current system strikes the right balance.
“I think we’re very well served, actually, by the lobbying registration system that we have,” the Minister said.
“I think, and indeed, I know, that we’re in an environment where if anyone comes to meet me or officials above a certain level in my department to advocate on a particular issue, that nearly always involves us being lobbied, and in all cases in which that happens, I see that lobbying then being registered.”
Donohoe argued that the system allows “stakeholders”, as well as members of the media and the wider public to see how lobbying takes place, who is involved, and whether the organisations in question receive government funding.
“Here in Ireland, actually, I think we’ve the balance reasonably well made,” he said.
“The majority of organisations involved in advocacy—certainly to me—also provide services, and the majority of the funding we provide to those organisations is used for services rather than for lobbying.”
Donohoe’s remarks come amid increasing scrutiny of NGO lobbying within the European Union, where members of the Budgetary Control Committee, including representatives from the European People’s Party (EPP), have raised concerns about the use of EU funding for political advocacy.
Notably, the EPP is the European grouping that Donohoe’s party, Fine Gael, belongs to.
German MEP Monika Hohlmeier of the EPP has led efforts to examine grants awarded to NGOs lobbying for the European Green Deal, arguing that the Commission should not be financing groups that use public money to pressure EU institutions on issues like climate policy. The controversy has reignited a long-standing debate over whether taxpayer funds should support political advocacy.
Among the grants under review are those given to NGOs operating in areas such as migration, agriculture and climate policy, justice and more.
Hohlmeier has also raised concerns over alleged irregularities in a €15 million grant programme under the EU’s primary environmental funding scheme, Life.
“My job is to scrutinize how taxpayers’ money is used…the Commission has to change its ways,” said EPP chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, Niclas Herbst, as he added that he is not against funding NGOs for non-lobbying purposes.
Despite the growing scrutiny in Brussels, Donohoe maintains that Ireland’s existing lobbying system ensures transparency and is currently adequate.
“If any organisation comes to me regarding budgetary decisions, they have to register that lobbying, and it’s there for all of you to see and all of you to report on,” he said, adding: “It’s done transparently, and I think we do, on balance, have that balance right.”