Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I would like to share time with Deputy Terence Flanagan. I would like to acknowledge the work Deputy Fleming has put in to the preparation of this Bill, which is very progressive. Accountability is so important, not just in these Houses, but across all public bodies, and across bodies that are in receipt of substantial public finance as well. That is why I feel the Government's proposed legislation for later in the year will be very important, as many public bodies and other bodies dealing with public finances will be subject to freedom of information provisions. I welcome the fact that this was put into the programme for Government and given priority by the coalition parties. Having spoken to people on the doorstep during the election campaign last year, I know that they feel there is not enough transparency in how we conduct our affairs. People feel that there is still much corruption, or things that should not be happening, going on behind closed doors and which are not open to public scrutiny. Expansion and enhancement of current freedom of information provisions is very important, because if we are to restore the faith of the public in the body politic and in the public service, we need this to happen. There has been a bit of argument back and forth this morning about whether we are restoring or enhancing freedom of information provisions. The bottom line is that we need to have more transparency and it is good to see that we are more or less on the same wavelength on the issue. I hope there will be unanimous support on this when it comes to a vote. The enhancement of freedom of information provisions would certainly complement the anti-corruption legislation that the Government is introducing. They will work well together. The anti-corruption legislation will outlaw certain practices, but the public will know that it can examine fully many activities carried out by public bodies. While I agree with many of the comments made by Deputy McDonald, I must take her up on her call for transparency, openness and information to be made available to the public. I do not want to engage in political point scoring, but I feel that as one of the new generation of Sinn Féin Members, she and her younger colleagues need to raise with their elders the issue of information about the bodies of the disappeared. This issue is incredibly important to the people affected. I welcome the fact that Deputy McDonald has demanded openness and transparency, which is what we are looking for, but Sinn Féin needs to start on its own doorstep. I mean that sincerely and I am not trying to start a slagging match about it. It is too important for that, but I feel that Sinn Féin needs to look at it. This Bill is welcome. I hope it will be enacted within nine months and I know that it is being given priority. The fact that it was included in the programme for Government means this is something we take very seriously. I would like more information given to the public on how to access freedom of information, so people are confident in how to get the information they seek. There is a lack of information among the public on how to seek the information they want. Perhaps we can have a look at how we can get that into the public domain a bit better.

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