Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

We debated this issue earlier. The purpose of the relevant provision is to permit the Minister for Finance to prescribe a fee, in regulations, to be charged by a public body in respect of requests for access to a non-personal record under section 7 of the principal Act. There was also a provision for a fee to be prescribed in respect of an application for internal review under section 14, or in respect of an application for information under section 34. Such a fee will not apply to a request for personal information. I have said this on several occasions and I will not go into it again. It does not apply either in the old Act or this Bill.

In the debate this morning I also indicated my willingness to look at an appropriate reduction in the level of fees for certain categories of requester. Furthermore, when responding to Senator Higgins, I made it clear that every citizen should make some small contribution, however minimal or nominal, for services delivered by the State. That applies in all areas of public life. It leads to an appreciation of the service. Where it is absent, the service is abused. While the fee will be set at a reasonable level, it will depend on the category of the requester. I do not intend to allow large media organisations the same level of fee as Mary Smith from Boyle aged 82 years.