Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The question is about the factual information to what requests under the Freedom of Information Acts my Department received. It does not relate to a debate on the merits, or demerits as Deputy Bruton would see it, of the Acts.

During my tenure as Minister for Finance, I widened the number of agencies that came under the Act's remit. Hundreds of State organisations are now required to work under the legislation, more than was the case when it was first enacted. Any objective assessment has shown the type of information made available by the legislation compares more favourably than that released in other freedom of information regimes, including that of the United Kingdom. If there are particular policy issues that Deputy Bruton has a problem with, I am sure he will find plenty of opportunities to air his views about them in other debates. However, I cannot help him on this particular question.

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