Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 28 is on the same topic. It is a straightforward amendment to make provision for the establishment of a database to include all material released under FOI. I actually believe the Minister wants to achieve this and he is probably in the process of doing it. Since the Minister's Department is over the public service generally, I ask that it take on the task. The last thing we want is for every public body to produce its own database. There must be a method whereby every public body could release a copy of information to the Department every week or month so it could be put in a central file. Members of the public could go to the Department, which is over the public service, to find out a lot of information, thus obviating the need to make requests in respect of matters that have been answered in line Departments all along. The amendment allows for an adequate lead-in time -12 months after the enactment of the legislation - whereby the register of all information released could be established. I refer to information on the record that could be collated in one area for future use.