Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The increase in fees in 2003 was responsible for a marked tailing off in interest in and use of freedom of information for many years, although the economic crisis facing the country and efforts to gain an understanding of how this could have happened helped spark a new interest. There is a financial cost in search and retrieval, and this must be realistically assessed and made known, but there are also benefits in terms of correction and clarification of information stored when examined under freedom of information. That must also be considered.

In the week of the Seanad referendum, the passage of this Bill through the House, righting the wrongs of the 2003 Act, is highly significant. This Government has been elected partly on a platform of new and reformed politics and this Bill is part of an overall package of Dáil reform, and with the ongoing reform of local government it is strengthening our republic. It is helping transparency, accountability and the roots of inquiry needed to ensure the republic remains just and true to the people its serves and who give us power.

I was elected to the House in the "bought" election of 2002 which had such terrible consequences for the economy and the country so I commend the passage of this Bill through the House. At the beginning of my contribution I noted how public finances were used to buy the 2002 election and the changes to freedom of information afterwards prevented us investigating that properly. There was a repeat performance in 2007 and the same thing happened again. The country's current position is a result of mismanagement of public finances from 2001 to 2008, when money was misspent on long-term projects even though short-term taxes were coming in. We will pay a heavy price for such action in this country, and our citizens are paying the price because they are stuck with high mortgages and other debt that came from pretences of a bad Government and managers.

I hope Bills like this will go a great way to enhancing transparency and making it easier for politicians on all sides of the House and people in organisations to get the information they need. People must be able to judge and assess what the Government, Departments and State bodies are doing. We came here with a manifesto partly based on reform, and we are trying to carry that out as best we can. We wish some of the reforms could happen more quickly but bit by bit we are turning around how the country operates and is run. That can only benefit us all.

I spent time as part of the Opposition in the last Dáil and our way of working has changed much in the past ten years; we are now in a better place to be a Deputy, no matter what side we are on. In politics it is important to get a chance to be heard and put thoughts on the record, and that opportunity exists. With Friday sittings, a Member can bring forward a Bill that will be discussed, which was not always possible. When in opposition, people need to wait their turn to put forward a Bill on Tuesday and Wednesday, so the Friday sittings are good. Many people complain that few people turn up but that is down to individual choice. The opportunity exists nonetheless. These reforms are about strengthening politics and transparency, and I hope the country will see the benefit of that as the years go on. I commend the Bill to the House and look forward to its fast passage into law.

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