Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Arising from the Taoiseach's reply and his reference to the remit of the Freedom of Information Act, I ask him to respond to the Labour Party's proposal that the financial regulatory bodies of the State should be covered by that Act. We have proposed that the Central Bank, the Financial Regulator, the NTMA, the NPRF and the State Claims Agency should be subject to freedom of information provisions. Specifically in regard to the NTMA, which is at present not subject to freedom of information provisions, what are the implications of the Government's decision, which is still to be acted on, to delegate some of the Minister for Finance's functions pertaining to banking to that agency? Currently, these functions are subject to the Act but this will no longer be the case if they are transferred, unless the NTMA is brought within the Act's remit. What is the Government's intention for these functions in regard to the application of the Freedom of Information Act?

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