Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Does the Taoiseach recall that during the recess it was reported that requests made to his Department under the Freedom of Information Act regarding the use of Shannon Airport by the US military and related matters, were refused? Will the Taoiseach advise if such a request or requests were refused and if they were refused under section 24 of the Act? Will the Taoiseach agree that section 24 allows for refusal of information if a head of a Department believes access to the information could adversely affect the security of the State, the defence of the State, international relations or matters pertaining to the Six Counties area of our country? Under which of these headings did the refusals fall and did any of them relate to the Six Counties? Does the Taoiseach agree with the Information Commissioner that the FOI law has become too restrictive and that it is very much against the public interest that information sought on projects involving major public expenditure — of which there are several examples——

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