Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 13, after line 48, to insert the following:

"(2) The Freedom of Information Act 1997 shall apply to the Authority.".

This matter is an old hobby horse of mine. We introduced the Freedom of Information Act so there would be access to important matters that seem to be shrouded in mystery within the bowels of the State. All legislation should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act unless specifically excluded rather than being excluded and listed further down the line as legislation that becomes subject to the Act. We are putting the cart before the horse, as the purpose of the Act is accountability and transparency.

Let us pass legislation that we can stand over and allow access to decisions made under it. We are shrouding in secrecy decisions made in respect of State bodies and legislative provisions as much as we can. There is no reason not to specify that the authority should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. There may be matters that must be addressed with a level of discretion but, in general terms, the proceedings of the authority should be subject to freedom of information legislation. We should not need to wait until the future when somebody may or may not get around to including this Bill, when enacted, on the list of legislative provisions open to freedom of information questions.

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