Ms Emily O'Reilly:

In respect of the Refugee Act, this relates to confidentiality regarding the identity and nationality of people applying for asylum. The exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act are to be found in sections 26 and 28 and pertain to records given to a public body in confidence and personal information, respectively. Both sections have public interest overrides which I have been discussing. I again make the same point that there are sufficient protections in the Freedom of Information Act to deal with that issue. I follow closely issues on asylum and immigration and in reference to my earlier comments, this is one area in which there is a reluctance to allow anyone else to oversee decisions made about such matters. I will put it like this: it is a sensitive issue that straddles many important areas of public life, from the welfare of asylum seekers to security issues and all sorts of other things. I do not wish to speak for the Department and this is simply my assessment based on my experience in the past ten years, but the Department perhaps takes the view that it alone has the knowledge, expertise and awareness of the public interest to be able to make the correct decisions on these matters. I take the view that any body should be amenable to external oversight. I refer to the role of the Information Commissioner or rather to that of the Ombudsman and note that most of these matters are outside my remit. However, in respect of those matters that I can consider, if I am looking at particular decisions, it is not that I would wish to substitute my decision for that of the Department. I am speaking as the Ombudsman as opposed to the Information Commissioner, but it is more that the role is to make sure the proper procedures were followed; that is what is critical. Consequently, it is not that I am making a judgment on whether someone should be given asylum or whether a person's family can join him or her or anything like that. All I would do simply is look at the procedures they are supposed to follow, up to and including whatever human rights obligations they have, and ensure they are followed.

The same applies to freedom of information legislation. Someone must ensure the public interest is safeguarded, both for the sake of people who are citizens of this country and for the safety, security and welfare of people who are coming to our shores for whatever reason. There have been a number of media reports on these issues in the last while, of which the Deputy may be aware. There are a lot of concerns about them - I am sure they are shared within the public administration - but there is nothing like transparency for all of us to discern what is real, what is imagined, what is gossip or what is actual and to make decisions based on us all being adults and having access to the information we need to have to make informed decisions about such matters.