Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 8 February 2023
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised)
Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Okay. It is quite significant. At that cost, they would definitely be able to change the biweekly to weekly.
Moving on to Vote 19, I ask about freedom of information, FOI, given that there is proposed legislation coming down the line. It is another area that I drafted a Bill on. However, given the reality of the way these things operate, more than likely, the Minister’s Bill will come forward before mine. One of the things my Bill proposed to do was oblige public bodies that refuse an FOI, but then on appeal have to give out the information, to refund the applicant the cost of the appeal. If the public body was then required to disclose the amount paid out in refunds in its annual reports, this would give an indication of how well that body was performing its obligations with regard to FOI. Does the Minister have any plans in that regard?