Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I accept that point. What the witness said about Tony Blair inclines me to say that we should adopt the UK model lock, stock and barrel. Mr. Hammond is very much in favour of freedom of information, more transparency and more accountability and he says the model in the UK is generally quite good. Will he indicate a few areas where he believes it could be improved even further? Mr. Hammond appeared to hint in that direction. He said a key aspect was not just being reactive or having a system that is reactive but having one that is proactive, which is about getting good information published and getting it out to the public in an accessible and understandable form for ordinary people. I agree with that. However, Mr. Hammond also spoke about opening up the decision making process. I thoroughly agree with him. Part of the reason people are often so alienated from state administration is that they feel decisions were made before they had a chance to scrutinise them or to be consulted on them. Will Mr. Hammond speak about how that works and how opening up the consultation process is or is not working in the UK, where it might be improved and what we could learn from his experience and views on that?

I also have a question on the issue of commercial sensitivity. Mr. Hammond dismissed the concerns in that area. In Ireland, I believe there is a widespread concern about the difficulty in getting information from semi-State bodies, State agencies and State boards and in cases where services are contracted out. Mr. Hammond appeared to think that was not a big issue. It is certainly a big concern for us. It is not just State agencies. We also had a discussion here about bodies that receive substantial money from the Exchequer, such as not-for-profit organisations or banks that are private entities but which have received huge amounts of money from the taxpayer, and whether freedom of information should extend to them and having transparency and accountability in that regard.

There is also the asylum, immigration and deportation process. We have received testimony from asylum seekers and organisations representing refugees that there is a veil of secrecy around this area, it is very difficult to get information and that we must be specific in opening up this area. Will Mr. Hammond comment on that?

Finally, there is the issue of fees. Mr. Hammond said that the vexatious complaints, the costs and so forth have been raised in the UK. This has certainly been raised over here. Will he give us a little more information on why this should not be an obstacle to extending freedom of information as far as possible? Even though vexatious requests are obviously a phenomenon, it is not such a burden that it makes public administration unworkable. Is that what I should take from what Mr. Hammond said?