Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We will commence session five in our advance scrutiny of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012. We are joined by the Information Commissioners, Ms Emily O'Reilly and Mr. Stephen Rafferty. They are both welcome. Ms O'Reilly's opening remarks will be followed by a question and answer session.

By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the joint committee. If they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to do so, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against a person, persons or an entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. Members are reminded of the long-standing ruling of the Chair to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

Before I call Ms O'Reilly, I advise her on the format we are using as the delegates come before the committee to make their opening statements. The committee is compiling as much information as it can in its advance scrutiny of the forthcoming freedom of information legislation. At the conclusion of this process, it will propose some recommendations to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin. The presentations we are receiving from the various groups, delegates and organisations will be included in our submission to the Minister.

We may also attend to some specific issues raised during our deliberations. The report will not edit or make value judgments on any of the recommendations made to us. Instead, these recommendations in respect of legislation will be assembled and given to the Minister. The purpose of this meeting is to extract from the Information Commissioner her ideas on the proposed legislation. Members can express their ideas on another occasion. We appreciate the Information Commissioner's time is valuable and we would like to learn from her.