Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree entirely with Deputy Harris that extracting information is viewed as scoring a great victory, even where the information is often readily available, and freedom of information legislation is often viewed as a means of prising open an organisation to obtain information. This should not be necessary as information should be routinely available except where there is a compelling reason not to make it available. Once this principle has been established, recourse to freedom of information legislation will probably diminish.

I accept the point the Deputy made regarding his experience of local authorities and it is one we will examine. I have responded on the issue of commercial semi-State companies. One cannot have a company placed in a commercially much weaker operating position that a competitor in the private sphere on the basis that it is largely or partially State owned. We cannot give private competitors all sorts of access that one would not otherwise give. If the Deputy has any ideas or would like to craft amendments that could meet his requirements in this regard, I will examine them.

One proposal in my Budget Statement which did not receive much attention was that Ireland join the Open Government Partnership, which was launched by President Obama at the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. Ireland has been deemed eligible for membership, having met the requisite criteria. We have written to the steering committee on foot of an initiative I brought to government at the end of last year. This initiative is working towards achieving openness in the general operation of government. I will circulate details to the Chairman for members' convenience.