Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have listened carefully to the Minister and I am very pleased that he has been willing to listen to common sense and do a complete U-turn on this issue. I admire his courage. Some here seem to consider this a laughing matter, but others of us do not. I said I admired the Minister's courage before the skits came from the other side. It is unquestionably a U-turn, but it is a good man who is willing to change his view. One can look at it both ways.

In regard to the amendment, I was surprised that the Minister had referred to the State's fiscal position, as though charging a few additional €15 fees would somehow have a significant impact on that position. It is an argument I do not accept. The Minister went on to say one of the reasons he was seeking to maintain the fee structure was, to use his words, to "manage demand". What that means, of course, is keeping down the number of requests. The Minister is afraid that demand would increase in a situation where no fees applied. To reiterate, he is saying one of his reasons for preferring the retention of fees is to manage the demand for freedom of information requests, in other words, to restrict the number of requests.

The amendment deals specifically with the issue of multiple possible fees at the application stage. In due course, as we move through the amendments, we will deal with the broader issue of fees. I am pleased at this point that we are at least getting some honesty from the Minister in so far as he acknowledges that one of the purposes of fees is to keep the number of requests down or, as he has put it, manage demand. It seems clear that this is the Minister's and, by extension, the Government's position.