Mr. Ger Deering:

As the Senator has rightly identified, a number of the areas she has spoken about are in regard to data and access. As such, they are matters for the Data Protection Commissioner, but there is an overlap. Individuals can also get some of their personal information under FOI. This is a bit like an issue we discussed earlier. There is a need for a cultural change, but also a practical change in terms of realising that this is information that people are entitled to. The more difficult one makes it for them to get that information, the more difficult one makes it for the public body and the more resources everybody will expend on the area.

In terms of the overall openness, I am glad to note that there is some work happening on OpenGov and that a new consultative group is being created in that regard. I welcome that. I would be very willing and happy to work with that group. The Ombudsman and Information Commissioner has a very real role, as does the Commissioner for Environmental Information, in deciding what can and cannot or should or should not be released. I take the Senator's point that we are almost losing when we are getting to that stage. Bodies should not have to be dragged through that in order to get them to release information that should be released. To return to what I was talking about earlier, I believe there is a body of work that we can do around persuading public bodies that have that information of the benefits of releasing it. They need to do it because it is what they are supposed to do, but there are benefits to them in the long run in doing that. As I mentioned, I will be engaging with the heads of the various bodies to try to achieve that.