Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My last point is the one I raised at the very end of our meeting with the NUJ, the broader societal right to information. All of the debate on this legislation and everything that has been written and presented to us about it concerns freedom of information in Government bodies, agencies and public bodies, excluding some commercial semi-State companies and matters of commercial sensitivity and personal information. It is as if the legislation deals only with organisations funded by the taxpayer, but there are many organisations that have more impact on the daily lives of citizens than some Government bodies. Within the private sector, for example, there is the banking and financial sector. If those institutions are in private hands they can have much more impact on people's lives than any Government body.

I refer to the financial institutions and companies in the food industry, for example. They have nothing to do with this because they are private companies. The print and electronic media also have a big impact on people's lives. They are private profit-making organisations. The mobile telephone companies that have the 3G and 4G mobile telephone licences have an impact on our daily lives, as do Sky television and TV3. Those who deal with such companies do not have the right to make a freedom of information request if, for example, Vodafone chooses to spend money on improving the signal in one area but does not bother to do so in another area. I appreciate that its licence was issued by a Government regulatory body. It is up to the private company to implement that licence as it sees fit on a commercial basis. Many cultural, sporting and church organisations have a big impact on people's daily lives. Perhaps people would love to know more about how church organisations are run. They might want to know more about the involvement in schools of sporting and cultural organisations. The fundamental impact that an organisation might have on people does not come into this debate - it is a question of whether it is paid for by the Irish taxpayer. What is Mr. Sheridan's view on broadening the freedom of information legislation in some respects to cover all types of organisations that have an impact on citizens' lives?