Mr. Colm Ó Mongáin:

Politicians have increasingly started to put in freedom of information requests precisely because of that issue, which was raised both by the Chairman and Mr. Ken Foxe. When one makes an initial inquiry, the response one gets from the established press liaison person may be unsatisfactory, so one follows that up with a freedom of information request. I am sure it is similar for TDs and Senators who pursue the same course of action. In that respect, it is being done in the public interest. The dissemination of information is also in the public interest. The media is commercial but it just happens to be in the business of information. It is a logical knock-on that some benefit is derived from it. However, as regards some of the information that Deputy Mathews was talking about - including the minutiae and a forensic building of the picture that might be needed - there is no splash as a result of that. Ironically, that is the kind of public interest information that is hard to get at and which makes the least front-page noise. At the same time, however, it incrementally builds a picture of public understanding. It would be a pity if people were to be disincentivised from going down that road, and building that kind of public information picture, by fees being charged.