Ms Emily O'Reilly:

There are non-disclosure provisions in many pieces of legislation, as the Deputy knows, and they remained in place even after the FOI Act was introduced. Under the Act if any of those provisions is included in the Third Schedule it means that, in effect, the FOI Act trumps them. The non-disclosure provisions are still in place but are referenced in regard to the exemptions and permissions within the Act. If a non-disclosure provision is included in the Third Schedule it is possible that records may still be released by reference to the FOI Act. For example, they might be released in the public interest or under a number of provisions within the FOI Act. If they are not included in the Third Schedule, that is it.