Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that one of the main intentions behind this legislation is to reverse the amendments to the Freedom of Information Act 1997 that were imposed in the 2003 Act, which was considered to represent a significant curtailment of the principle of the right of access to records provided for in the 1997 legislation. One of the main areas I have addressed relates to the treatment of Government records under section 28. In that regard, section 28 now provides that the mandatory power to refuse a freedom of information request relating to Government records or records to be submitted to the Government, which was introduced by Fianna Fáil in the 2003 legislation, is being removed and the discretionary power contained in the original Act is being restored. The five-year rule for the release of Government records is also being restored. The strict definition of what constitutes a Cabinet record and the definition of "government" are also being restored to what they were under the original Act. The anomaly created in 2003 by the creation of a mandatory exemption for Cabinet records containing factual information which is already largely in the public domain is being reversed, and communications between members of the Government will also no longer be exempt. Although I have reversed those unwelcome amendments that were introduced in 2003, I accept that there is an inherent need to protect sensitive Government records for a certain period of time. Five years seems reasonable to me in that regard. Exemptions are also needed to protect Cabinet confidentiality, as provided for in the Constitution, and the doctrine of collective responsibility. I believe the protections afforded in the original 1997 Act, which we are restoring, constitute the correct way to proceed in the case of Government records.