Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 January 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

3:00 pm

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have already responded to the exemptions issue, which we will examine. In terms of enforcement, there are no administrative sanctions but it is a criminal offence and there are criminal sanctions against breaches of the Act.

Regarding commercial semi-State bodies, we had this debate in the context of the Ombudsman. Senator Barrett was of the view that no one should be exempt from anything in terms of oversight, which is a legitimate perspective. As someone who supports the semi-State sector, I want it to operate on a level playing field with the non-State commercial sector. The semi-State sector should not be disadvantaged to the extent that its commercial decisions are subject to an oversight or an intrusion in the public domain that hampers its capacity to operate on a level playing field with the non-State commercial sector. We debated it in the context of the Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill and we may have the opportunity to debate it here.

With all the legislation I want to introduce, I want it to be discussed by the committee at an early stage. Any constructive ideas Deputies have, including drafting new sections, will be genuinely considered by me. It is important to get this right. This is more the business of the Oireachtas than of the Executive. I do not regard the Executive as having proprietorial rights or all wisdom on these matters. I will be genuinely open to constructive thoughts on this point.

We have had an open discussion about fees and I set out what I believe. I hear what Deputies are saying. Section 10, which deals with vexatious requests, is not regarded as very effective and it is a matter we are reviewing. In my 30 years of public life, I have come across people taking a down on a particular public servant. Everything the person does is subject to a freedom of information request as a means of torment. It can go on for weeks, months or years as I have seen in individual cases. We must have balance in all of this and I am willing to see what is the right balance. I will be approaching this and the other legislation, such as that on whistleblowers, as a means to build consensus across the House.

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