Comparing the evolution of lobbying legislation in Lithuania and Ireland, whither regulatory robustness?

This paper compares the amendments introduced by the Regulation of
Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act 2023
with the original regulations of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The
study was conducted using the Hired Guns Method for assessing the
robustness of lobbying legislation, developed by the Centre for Public Integrity
(CPI), allowing findings to be compared with lobbying regulations
internationally. The 2015 legislation was introduced after years of tribunals,
scandals, unfulfilled political promises, and economic crisis, in an effort to
increase the public’s trust in politicians, representative institutions, democracy
and the wider bureaucracy. The 2023 Amendment came in the wake of a 2020
lobbying scandal. The paper finds that, despite the CPI score remaining
unchanged, in-depth examination of the legislation showed that the
amendment introduced more rules and sanctions, particularly in relation to
designated public officials, and closed off outstanding legislative loopholes.