James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and, like my colleagues, I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Freedom of Information Bill 2013. As many Members have said, this is a very important Bill which seeks to restore the FOI legislation to its pre-2003 state and to extend its remit to the vast majority of public bodies. Under the 2011 programme for Government this Government committed to introducing FOI reform legislation to restore the Freedom of Information Act to its pre-2003 status and to extend its remit to other public bodies including the administrative side of the Garda Síochána. A commitment was also given to extend the Act to ensure that all statutory bodies and bodies significantly funded from the public purse are covered. This is right.

This legislation brings a raft of public bodies under the ambit of FOI for the first time, including the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, the Central Bank, and the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA and the Garda Síochána. The enactment of the Emergency Powers Act 1939 and the amendment and strengthening of the Official Secrets Act in 1963 are examples of a traditional lack of transparency on the part of a centralised and secretive State. Ireland joining the European Economic Community, EEC, in 1973 and in particular the attendance of Irish civil servants at EEC meetings have been credited for creating a cultural shift within the Civil Service, with greater recognition for the need for a more open bureaucracy within the service. Certain EU legislation, in particular directives on access to environmental information, contributed to the shift, as these required Ireland to make all information relevant to the environment available to the public. Further measures leading to greater transparency included the strengthening of the powers of Comptroller and Auditor General.

In 1997, under the Fine Gael-led rainbow coalition, the Freedom of Information Bill was brought into law. At the time its enactment was seen as the key to delivering openness and transparency in government. The Freedom of Information Act 1997 established a right of access to records held by a public body; a right to be given reasons for a decision; a right to amend where personal information in a record was incomplete, incorrect or misleading; and the right of a person to information on acts of public bodies affecting him or her. In April 2003 the Act was amended by the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003. That happened at a time when the Fianna Fáil-led coalition was run with the support of many others. Many things happened in that era that would be best forgotten, although they left a legacy with which the people must live. Key changes made by the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003 were: the extension of the period of protection for Government records from five years to ten; mandatory protection of Government records or records to be submitted to the Government; full protection of communications between Ministers relating to issues under consideration by the Government; protection of records relating to the workings of committees of officials and advisers assisting the Government in carrying out its work - many of the things that happened secretly behind the scenes at the time left the country in the state it is in today; and a provision enabling the Minister for Finance to prescribe fees for the making of a request for access to non-personal records and for any subsequent application for internal review and or review by the Information Commissioner.

The introduction of fees, in particular, was a barrier to the seeking of information and was predicted to result in fewer FOI requests. There was a substantial drop in FOI usage after the introduction of the 2003 Act and this is attributed in the main to the introduction of hefty fees at the time. The 2003 changes were made to the Act by the then Fianna Fáil-led Government which was determined to bring back the shroud of secrecy that had hidden the dealings of that Government. There is no doubt that the inadvertent release, under freedom of information legislation, after the general election in 2002 of records covering Government spending is noted as a possible factor in the decision to amend the Freedom of Information Act in 2003. The released information under the FOI Act showed that the Department of Finance and the then Minister for Finance were warning about the deteriorating economic situation and the need for cuts across all Departments. However, in the run-up to the election Ministers publicly and repeatedly denied that spending cuts were necessary. The embarrassment caused by the release of the information was a driving factor in the revision of the 1997 Act.

There seems to be a common pattern - a Fianna Fáil Government comes to power and interferes with the system to suit itself and then Fine Gael has to come in to fix the mess. We are fixing the mess the country was left in and reforming a system that demands reform. We are creating a system the people deserve because they certainly did not deserve the one that led us into one of the worst economic crises to hit the nation. The Freedom of Information Bill 2013 seeks to restore freedom of information legislation to its pre-2003 status and extend its remit to all public bodies, subject to some exemptions. Citizens, as shareholders in public bodies, should have the right to examine and review the deliberations and processes of these bodies.

To return to the issue of fees, the introduction of steep fees in 2003 severely affected the number of FOI requests from citizens. On top of this, many records had mandatory protection, while others which should have been accessible to citizens were not accessible until ten years after their relevance had faded. This was serious. Deputy Catherine Murphy said modern technology should make it easier for people to obtain information and I agree. I also welcome the Minister of State's agreement to make improvements to the draft legislation, where necessary. There is a need for tweaking and I have no doubt that he will deal with it competently.

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