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

We also heard that some official agencies are covered to a greater extent than others. For example, services to accommodation centres for asylum seekers are subcontracted, which means that a centre may be managed by a third party which has won a contract from the State following a tender process. It is proposed that non-governmental organisations such as development agencies working in Africa and so forth will come within the ambit of the Act. Does the Information Commissioner have a view on agencies that are contracted by the State to provide services in settings such as accommodation centres? For example, should freedom of information apply with regard to policy implementation or whether there is some degree of standardisation or uniformity in basic areas such as the distribution of food in direct provision centres as opposed to their day-to-day operations?

It is an issue I come across a lot, particularly wearing my Ombudsman's hat, because asylum and immigration issues are excluded from my mandate. There is a range of very vulnerable people who are looked after by the State, but who are denied the right to an independent complaints mechanism.

In this regard, if the bodies mentioned in the first question are to come in and they are the ones contracting or bringing in the services, as I understand it, under the proposed amended legislation the records relating to the services they are providing would be subject to FOI requests.