Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The extension of the Freedom of Information Act is an ongoing process involving the Department of Finance. Last year and the year before — in the largest ever extension of the Act — its provisions were extended to 137 further bodies. As a result, more than 520 bodies are now covered by the Act. This compares with a figure of 67 when it came into operation a decade ago. In such circumstances, I am afraid the Deputy's argument falls.

Deputy Burton is probably not aware that the only significant change made to the Act in 2003 relates to the protection of what are considered exempt records, namely, those relating to meetings of Government in respect of which the deliberative process has not been completed. This extends to the records of certain committees where the committee concerned is certified by the Secretary General as being established in direct support of such deliberations. The Deputy made the point that this amounts to a regaining of control on the part of certain individuals. Since the introduction of the change in 2003, the number of issues that have been signed off on and certified is none.

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