Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a statutory obligation. I will say something on behalf of the public. We all talk about joined-up Government and this is an example of the issues. Local government is seen as the local arm of the Government and if local governments go to the High Court to prevent the release of information they are preventing the release of information to other public bodies. People can make multiple claims against different local authorities and State bodies and it is not in the public interest when people make sure that information is not shared. There should be some information relating to the total number of claims against all State bodies. People need to know because it involves billions of euro in liabilities.