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

One could argue the exact opposite. The fact that one of the richest women in Britain - the Queen - is not subject to freedom of information legislation is problematic. One could argue that including the Office of the President in the legislation would assist in maintaining the integrity and dignity of the office because it should be open, transparent and representative of all the people. It would be positive for the office to be seen as such and accessible to public scrutiny and inquiry. Obviously, the private lives of the President and his or her family are different matters. It would be entirely reasonable, however, to make information on how the office spends its money and so forth subject to freedom of information legislation. In the current climate public office does not have great standing generally. While the President is an exception to this, it would set a good example if the office were to be included in the legislation, stating all public offices would be subject to public scrutiny.