Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage

7:25 pm

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As I said, the amendment is to the definition of public bodies, which is unnecessary in that tribunals are entities established under statute and appointed by Government and are encompassed by this FOI legislation, unless specifically exempted or excluded, which they are not.

The real issue, as I understand it, is that amendment No. 14 goes back to the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921. Section 42(e) excludes records relating to tribunal inquiries, other than in limited circumstances, such as general administration. This exemption means records of tribunals of inquiry or commissions of inquiry were already excluded from the remit of FOI in section 42; the relevant provisions contained in sectoral legislation in the actual bodies that set up the tribunals of inquiry are being reconsolidated into this legislation.

Obviously there is a public interest in excluding FOI, where the tribunal is deliberating. One needs to give the tribunal scope to do that and that is what the actual crafting of legislation does, as it must be allowed to weigh confidential information and decide whether it should in the public interest be published or not. The efficiency of the whole tribunal process would be undermined in circumstances that FOI requests could be made on a selective basis during the work of tribunals. This would have the effect of allowing the tribunal's inquiries to be reviewed and its conclusions second guessed on the basis of selected records being requested or released. It is also likely that individuals would be discouraged from providing confidential information to tribunals, were this information in the FOI domain. For those reasons I do not think that tribunals of inquiry should be encompassed. It was never envisaged under the base legislation that they would. In conducting their work, they weigh up evidence and determine truth because much of what they get is not true and some of it is contradictory. A judge or whoever is the authorised person under law makes that determination at the end of the day.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.