Overwatch Report

Community Platform

September–December

[Finance] Emailed all Ministers, TDs and Senators with a copy of the Community Platform’s Four Tests for Budget 2026 asking them to support these proposals in the run up to the announcement of Budget 2026.

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Email All TDs', 'role': 'Emailed once'} {'name': 'Email All Senators', 'role': 'emailed once'} {'name': 'Email All Oireachtas Members', 'role': 'All Ministers emailed once'} {'name': 'Aengus Ó Snodaigh', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Aidan Farrelly', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Aindrias Moynihan', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} + 330 more

Community Platform

September–December

[Social Protection] Emailed Niall Egan, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Social Protection. It was a follow-up to a meeting sent to Minister Dara Calleary in June about the Department’s consultation on a successor to the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 requesting an opportunity to meet the Minister and Departmental officials and discuss a draft of the Strategy to allow for meaningful engagement before the strategy is finalised.

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Niall Egan', 'role': 'Assistant Secretary (Department of Social Protection)'}

Community Platform

September–December

[Community] Emailed a letter to the Deputy John Paul O’Shea, Chair of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Rural and Community Development requesting that they hold a meeting on Poverty on the week of the 17th October UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': "John Paul O'Shea", 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'}

Community Platform

May–August

[Social Protection] Consultation on successor strategy to the Roadmap for Social Inclusion

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Dara Calleary', 'role': 'Minister (Department of Social Protection)'}

Community Platform

May–August

[Community] Email to Minister Buttimer re Collaborative Governance

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Jerry Buttimer', 'role': 'Minister of State (Department of Rural and Community Development)'}

Community Platform

January–April

[Community] With Community Platform members, sharing/presenting the Community Platform Manifesto for the Local, European and General Elections

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Paul Donnelly', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'}

Community Platform

January–April

[Community] With Community Platform members, sharing/presenting the Community Platform Manifesto for the Local, European and General Elections

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Bríd Smith', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Richard Boyd Barrett', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'}

Community Platform

January–April

[Community] With Community Platform members, sharing/presenting the Community Platform Manifesto for the Local, European and General Elections

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': "Joe O'Brien", 'role': 'Minister of State (Department of Rural and Community Development)'} {'name': 'Róisín Garvey', 'role': 'Senator (Seanad)'}

Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed

January–April

[Budgetary matters] As part of the Community Platform, the INOU met with Paul Donnelly, Sinn Fein on the Platform’s election manifesto. The Platform has prioritised four key areas it is asking political parties and independents to address: eradication of poverty; delivery of a universal public model of early years care and education and school age childcare; implementation of an effective model of collaborative governance; creation of inclusive, resilient, sustainable and empowered communities.

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Paul Donnelly', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'}

Community Platform

May–August

[Budgetary matters] Represented the Community Platform as part of Community and Voluntary Pillar Pre-Budget Meeting with Minister for Finance Jack Chambers and Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform Paschal Donohoe

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Jack Chambers', 'role': 'Minister (Department of Finance)'} {'name': 'Paschal Donohoe', 'role': 'Minister (Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform)'}

Community Platform

May–August

[Community] With Community Platform members, presenting the Community Platform Manifesto for the Local, European and General Elections

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Bríd Smith', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'}

Community Platform

May–August

[Social Protection] Community and Voluntary Pillar Bilateral Meeting with the Department of Social Protection

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Teresa Leonard', 'role': 'Deputy Secretary (Department of Social Protection)'} {'name': 'Ciaran Lawler', 'role': 'Assistant Secretary (Department of Social Protection)'} {'name': 'Fiona Ward', 'role': 'Assistant Secretary (Department of Social Protection)'}

Community Platform

September–December

[Social Protection] Community Platform Four Tests for Budget 2025

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Email All Oireachtas Members', 'role': 'Emailed Community Platform Four Tests for Budget 2025'}

Community Platform

September–December

[Social Protection] Email invitation to launch of Community Platform report 'What Would it Take to Eliminate Consistent Poverty by 2030?'

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Jennifer Whitmore', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Holly Cairns', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Gary Gannon', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Seán Sherlock', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Marie Sherlock', 'role': 'Senator (Seanad)'} {'name': 'Frances Black', 'role': 'Senator (Seanad)'} + 10 more

Community Platform

September–December

[Social Protection] Community Platform Manifesto for the General Election

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Simon Harris', 'role': 'An Taoiseach (Department of the Taoiseach)'} {'name': 'Micheál Martin', 'role': 'Tánaiste and Minister (Department of Foreign Affairs)'} {'name': 'Mary Lou McDonald', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': "Roderic O'Gorman", 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Ivana Bacik', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Richard Boyd Barrett', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} + 1 more

Community Platform

September–December

[Social Protection] Community Platform priorities for the next Programme for Government

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Micheál Martin', 'role': 'Tánaiste and Minister (Department of Foreign Affairs)'} {'name': 'Simon Harris', 'role': 'An Taoiseach (Department of the Taoiseach)'} {'name': 'Holly Cairns', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Mary Lou McDonald', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Richard Boyd Barrett', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} {'name': 'Ivana Bacik', 'role': 'TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)'} + 1 more

Community Platform

September–December

[Social Protection] Community and Voluntary Pillar Bilateral Meeting with the Department of Social Protection

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Teresa Leonard', 'role': 'Deputy Secretary (Department of Social Protection)'} {'name': 'Niall Egan', 'role': 'Assistant Secretary (Department of Social Protection)'} {'name': 'Fiona Ward', 'role': 'Assistant Secretary (Department of Social Protection)'}

Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed

May–August

[Public Expenditure and Reform] As part of the Community Platform, the INOU met with the DSP’s Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General on the Platform’s Collaborative Governance paper.

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Teresa Leonard', 'role': 'Deputy Secretary (Department of Social Protection)'} {'name': 'John McKeon', 'role': 'Secretary General (Department of Social Protection)'}

Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed

May–August

[Communications] The INOU is a member of the Community Platform, a network of 30 national networks and organisations in the community and voluntary sector working to address poverty, social exclusion and inequality. In May the Platform launched their Local & European Election Manifestos calling on candidates to value community, decency and participation.

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Alice-Mary Higgins', 'role': 'Senator (Seanad)'} {'name': 'Marian Harkin', 'role': 'MEP (European Parliament)'}

Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed

May–August

[Budgetary matters] As part of the Community Platform, the INOU signed a letter to Minister PaschalDonohoe asking him to support the development of an innovative participatory process for groups experiencing social exclusion, poverty and inequality in the national implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the setting up of the Irish SDG Stakeholder Forum.

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Paschal Donohoe', 'role': 'Minister (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform)'}

Rape Crisis Network Ireland

September–December

[Budgetary matters] Community Platform 4 tests for budget 2019

Public Officials Lobbied

{'name': 'Email All Oireachtas Members', 'role': ''}

Lobbying Tracker

Most Lobbied TDs