Ms Dearbhail McDonald:

I thank the committee for this opportunity to make a submission on behalf of my colleagues at Independent newspapers and other colleagues throughout the country. The Freedom of Information Act was originally described as landmark legislation in terms of Ireland paving the way for open government. The barriers for us as working journalists are well rehearsed if not fully understood by members of the public and, possibly, Members of the Dáil and Seanad. I believe these could be circumvented significantly if not entirely if there was a genuine commitment to transparency and, as described by Mr. Cullen, a proactive approach to open government, including e-Government, as mentioned by Deputy Ó Snodaigh.

The type of barriers we face include upfront fees, including search and retrieval fees, fees in respect of appeals, which act as a deterrent, and a failure of decision making within the prescribed timeframes. In my experience and that of my colleagues there is a flagrant disregard of the deadlines prescribed in the Act. Also, there is inadequate training for officials dealing with freedom of information requests and inconsistencies within and across Departments in terms of interpretation of the Act, which leads to huge anomalies, not least in fees. There is under-resourcing at every level up to and including the Office of the Information Commissioner. One of my colleagues is currently awaiting a reply from that office in relation to a freedom of information request he lodged in June 2009.

In my view, taken on their own these types of barriers are a deterrent. On a cumulative basis, they have a paralysing effect. If it is the intention of Government that these barriers would act as a deterrent, I can confirm that they are succeeding. As journalists we must take realistic decisions and weigh up the use of the Freedom of Information Act on a cost benefit analysis basis in terms of the time and money spent. In my view, the Act has been filleted and contorted to such an extent that it has been in many cases rendered impotent, which is regrettable. We therefore welcome many of the reforms.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh referred to the culture within Departments. We have not yet emerged from that culture of secrecy. It remains the case that the initial instinct on the part of official Ireland is to say nothing at all. One of my colleagues in the Sunday Independent describes this as the culture of deter, resist and refuse. To that I would add, "If all else fails, redact". I will provide some specific examples. One of my colleagues at the Sunday Independent, Daniel McDonnell, sought to obtain documents relating to the Government decision to financially assist or bail out CIE to the tune of €36 million. We in the Sunday Independent and elsewhere felt that the documents and memos relating to that decision were matters of huge public interest. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport took a different view. After extensive liaison all that was released was a significant amount of redacted documents and drafts of a press statement. CIE is a State owned company. It operates a near monopoly and has just received a major bailout to plug its deficit. This type of issue is of huge public interest.

This leads me on to the issue of public bodies. We do not yet know what additional public bodies will come under this Act. There is huge power vested in the Minister to decide that. We believe there are major weaknesses in respect of the exclusion, for example, of commercial semi-State bodies such as CIE. Although the inclusion of An Garda Síochána and the vocational education committees is welcome, it boggles the mind how CIE, from a security perspective or otherwise, is higher up on the list than the Garda Síochána or Central Bank. There is huge significant public interest in that issue.

We also believe there are major weaknesses, currently and possibly into the future, in respect of bodies such as the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, and the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA. I will give an example of what we cannot get access to in respect of NAMA. Records relating to developers working with NAMA are excluded. We do not know if developer A is complying with his or her business plan or if developer B is being investigated for not fully disclosing his or her assets. We have to wait for actions to come before the courts to get information. In relation to actions before the courts in America, we log on to a website and can get all the required information. There is a major deficit in this area. We do not know about disciplinary matters within NAMA, which information is pertinent in respect of court action taken against a named individual in the courts over security concerns about information emanating from NAMA. We do not know about the remuneration or salary levels of NTMA staff.

Given the events of last night, I can think of no greater issue facing current and future generations than the operations of NAMA, the Department of Finance and the NTMA. These are manifestly in the public interest. While we accept and acknowledge that there should be exceptions, there has been and is abuse of the cry of emergency and of commercial sensitivity in blocking access to information that we as citizens, taxpayers and members of the public already own. I cannot stress this enough. The right to freedom of information is, like any other right, not a right if not effective and accessible. My concern in relation to the reforms, although much desired and welcomed, is that if the spirit of the law is not matched by practical implementation on the ground then it is an ineffective right.

On culture, as working journalists we often believe the media are being punished for daring to ask questions. The relationship between the media and the body politic can often be uncomfortable, if not hostile, but we should not be punished for seeking access to information that, as Mark Tighe of The Sunday Times will back up, is widely available in other countries. We believe there is a unique opportunity, in terms of Ireland's Presidency of the European Council and the eyes of the world being upon it, for Ireland to show leadership, not alone in the area of freedom of information but also of open government and e-Government.