Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform
Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed)
4:30 pm
Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Yes. That was probably a request made by a journalist looking for a particular story about the costs incurred by the Taoiseach and perhaps Ministers - I acknowledge that point - which people might perceive to be superfluous or because there was controversy around such expenditure because it might have been perceived to be excessive and indulgent against the background of an economic crisis. That is the logic behind that question and it is consistent through the eight parts. The Minister is now telling us that in the case of such a request which was almost certainly submitted by a journalist with a particular story in mind to reveal information that the public might want to know about this expenditure, there will be eight charges instead of one, which would be problematic, or is he telling us that there will be only one charge? His answer to that question will clarify if he has changed his position.