Mr. Ger Deering:

I thank the Senator. In terms of the access to the information as in the Ombudsman or the Information Commissioner having access, the legislation provides that the information must be given to the Ombudsman. It would not be sufficient for a body to say to the Ombudsman that particular information is sensitive commercial data. It would be for the Information Commissioner to decide that. That information would have to be furnished and the Information Commissioner can decide whether it is commercially sensitive and whether it should be released beyond that. This is a matter which, if the legislation was being reviewed, I would be happy to consider further and to offer further comments on. I am satisfied that power is there at the moment.

The Senator mentioned asylum seekers and, in particular, LGBTQ asylum seekers.

It is important to point out that even when those areas come within the remit of the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman cannot substitute his or her decision for that of the Minister or the competent authority. The areas the Senator describes are grey areas. They may fall within the competence of the Ombudsman or they may fall within the decision. I take the Senator's point that it is not realistic to have a list of requirements that are very easily achieved in this country for somebody who lives in a regime where something that is perfectly legal, right, moral and acceptable in this country is deemed, for some reason, to be illegal in another country. You cannot expect people to have the same evidence or documents. The reality is that people living in some of these countries have to hide whatever the issue is that causes them to leave the country. It is therefore very difficult to have documentation to prove that. That is an area you would have to look at carefully to see if it is part of the decision-making process or maybe maladministration. I will give the Senator an on the one hand and on the other hand answer to that.