Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I want to be clear on this. The outworking of this legislation on FOI, which is, by international acknowledgment, ground-breaking and world class, will change the whole way in which bodies become subject to FOI such that they will be automatically included as opposed to being automatically excluded unless specifically included. However, we do have to have some discernment as to what is practical in terms of bringing in this whole raft of new bodies for the first time. As I said, in the case of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner we are talking about 4 million files. Individuals will have access to their own records without let or hindrance, but we must apply a commencement date in respect of any third party looking for any file if we are to avoid placing an undue burden on the organisation. It is just disingenuous and wrong for people to claim this in any way impacts negatively on the processing of applications. Any individual will have access to his or her records, as will a lawyer acting on his or her behalf. That is the point.