Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

On the quality of replies, at a meeting earlier this year a representative from the Office of the Information Commissioner spoke on the broader issue of freedom of information, FOI, inquiries. Some Members complained, as Deputy Barrett has mentioned, that the quality of the information was not adequate. We have been talking about how we can have a better way of dealing with Question Time and so on. The issue of oral and written questions is different.

Are we to expect that the same amount of information would be available in a written question as might become available as a result of an FOI inquiry, bearing in mind that there is a longer period available for that?

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