Former ministers' post-politics work in private sector.

political analyst

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0928/1167942-michael-darcy-resigns/

Sinn Féin's Finance Spokesperson has said his party has written to the Standards in Public Office in relation to the appointment of the former Fine Gael Senator Michael D'Arcy as chief executive of the Irish Association of Investment Managers to confirm if the appointment "is in breach of the law".

The Investment Managers Association said that Mr D'Arcy will not engage in lobbying activities for the first 12 months of his employment.

The Association said in a statement, "IAIM obtained legal advice and are satisfied that Michael D'Arcy's appointment as CEO is not in breach of Section 22 of the Lobbying Act. IAIM has not engaged in any lobbying activity in 2018, 2019 and 2020 to date, as evidenced by filings under the Act. Michael D'Arcy and the IAIM will not be engaging in any lobbying activities until the 12-month cooling off period has been completed, in adherence with the regulations."

The former Fine Gael TD was junior minister with responsibility for financial services and insurance from 2017 until June 2020. He was elected to the Seanad for the Agricultural Panel in April 2020.

The legislation this case concerns is the Regulation of Lobbying Act.

I remember the controversy about the appointment of Tom Parlon as DG of the Construction Industry Federation.

What harm was being done by former ministers' work in high-level private-sector posts anyway?!

blanch152

Permanently outraged Pearse gets outraged, what is surprising?

I noticed earlier that they had not lobbied for three years, so that possibly brings into question whether they fall under the definition of lobbyist in the Act. None of that will bother Pearse, getting outraged and getting headlines is all he is interested in.

James Brown

political analyst wrote: »

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0928/1167942-michael-darcy-resigns/





The legislation this case concerns is the Regulation of Lobbying Act.

I remember the controversy about the appointment of Tom Parlon as DG of the Construction Industry Federation.

What harm was being done by former ministers' work in high-level private-sector posts anyway?!

Aren't all FG ministers past and present shills for private business? I thought that's why they entered politics.

political analyst

political analyst wrote: »

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0928/1167942-michael-darcy-resigns/





The legislation this case concerns is the Regulation of Lobbying Act.

I remember the controversy about the appointment of Tom Parlon as DG of the Construction Industry Federation.

What harm was being done by former ministers' work in high-level private-sector posts anyway?!

A gross conflict of interest.

JohnnyFlash

All former politicians should be made take a vow of poverty, and be made live in a cold-water bedsit.

smurgen

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

All former politicians should be made take a vow of poverty, and be made live in a cold-water bedsit.

If you want to live in a banana republic we can have a whip around to book ya a flight. I'd rather not live in a basket case country that has a revolving door between government and lobby groups.

JohnnyFlash

smurgen wrote: »

If you want to live in a banana republic we can have a whip around to book ya a flight. I'd rather not live in a basket case country that has a revolving door between government and lobby groups.

Don't you live in Norn Iron? It's not a republic of course, but it is a basket case.

political analyst

Deleted User wrote: »

A gross conflict of interest.

And what effect does that have on the public?

Stovepipe

Brian Hayes is a shill for the banks and Lucinda Creighton jumped ship from both FG and Renua. So far, so FG.....at least they waited til they got out of politics formally to work for the private sector. Hayes is a particularly shameless and oily creature, though.

smurgen

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Don't you live in Norn Iron? It's not a republic of course, but it is a basket case.

Nope.

Yurt2

political analyst wrote: »

And what effect does that have on the public?

I don't know about you, but for instance, I for one wouldn't like a minister with responsibility for insurance regulation with one eye on a job in the insurance lobby while he / she is in office. Fox guarding the chicken coop comes to mind.

James Brown

political analyst wrote: »

And what effect does that have on the public?

It opens up many questions:
Are our public representatives acting in the best interest of the public? Are current politicians favouring private business over value for the tax payer? Are former politicians using their connections to encourage such moves? Do we want that?
Should current policy makers be doing favours instead of getting the tax payer the best deal?
I'm sure it's all above board :rolleyes:

stockshares

https://twitter.com/rtepolitics/status/1310900778857574400?s=19

stockshares

Stovepipe wrote: »

Brian Hayes is a shill for the banks and Lucinda Creighton jumped ship from both FG and Renua. So far, so FG.....at least they waited til they got out of politics formally to work for the private sector. Hayes is a particularly shameless and oily creature, though.

John Bruton a former Taoiseach also became a lobbyist as did Dick Roach.
https://www.businesspost.ie/more-politics/bruton-made-senior-adviser-with-lobbying-company-teneo-c4b0b818

https://www.thejournal.ie/john-burton-annoying-1614810-Aug2014/
Quote
The former Fine Gael leader led the Rainbow Coalition in government from 1994 to 1997 and has remained a prominent voice on Irish political and economic matters in recent years.

This is due partly to having taken on the high-profile role of EU ambassador to the United States from 2004 to 2009 before becoming president of IFSC Ireland, a role which essentially tasks him with lobbying on behalf of the organisation to the Dublin docklands.

Roach was s former minister for European Affairs between 2002 and 2011 and Minister for the Environment from 2004-07 who now lobbies for Huawei.
https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/ex-minister-to-earn-up-to-200000-as-huawei-lobbyist-39027056.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Roche

Quote
Upon losing his Wicklow seat in the 2011 election, Mr Roche quickly reinvented himself as a Brussels lobbyist.

FTA69

Handy number that isn’t it? The only reason these companies hire ex politicians on their staff is for access to political contacts with a view to gaining legislation or contracts beneficial for themselves. It’s not immediate cash for favours corruption, but it’s certainly a form of impropriety when as someone else said here that the democratic process and corporate capital have a revolving door between them.

The same goes for large donors to political parties or cash for political access, it’s institutionalised corruption at the end of the day.

stockshares

https://twitter.com/sbprme/status/1310623126687019011?s=19

James Brown

stockshares wrote: »

https://twitter.com/sbprme/status/1310623126687019011?s=19

'It's alright because I think he's alright' :rolleyes:

Kivaro

FTA69 wrote: »

Handy number that isn’t it? The only reason these companies hire ex politicians on their staff is for access to political contacts with a view to gaining legislation or contracts beneficial for themselves. It’s not immediate cash for favours corruption, but it’s certainly a form of impropriety when as someone else said here that the democratic process and corporate capital have a revolving door between them.

The same goes for large donors to political parties or cash for political access, it’s institutionalised corruption at the end of the day.

As I peruse the first couple of pages on this Current Affairs forum, I see a lot of American-related threads; yet this one seems to be trickling away to oblivion.

Michael D'Arcy was supposed to reform the Irish Insurance Cartel while he was Minister of State at the Department of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, with special responsibility for Financial Services and Insurance. However, when the insurance debacle was front and centre (prior to Covid19), he was like a deer in the headlights when questioned on why creches and other businesses around the country were shutting down due to the unsustainable high cost of insurance. Every time he was seen on television or on the radio, he seemed to be deliberately delaying much needed reform in the Insurance Cartel with various excuses and non-action.

Obviously the people of Ireland and his own constituency were unhappy with him, so he lost his seat in the 2020 general election, only to be rewarded with a seat in Seanad. A few months later, he quits the Seanad to become chief executive of the Irish Association of Institute Management (IAIM). Michael D'Arcy's utter disdain to all of us was when he did not bother contacted the Standards In Public Office Commission (Sipo) prior to taking up this new lucrative position. Targeting the Government and regulators is a core responsibility of this financial services role that the ex-minister is now tasked with. And IAIM has previously lobbied Michael D'Arcy in the past.

Some Irish people snigger at the way corrupt jurisdictions around the world conduct their political business. Those politicians behave as if they governed a fiefdom with the sole purpose of dividing the economic spoils among themselves. But that would never happen in a first world democracy though ..... unless Ireland is really not a first world democracy.

There should now be an investigation of this whole distasteful mess.