Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I am not aware of the position on the electronic aspect of the Deputy's question but I will check it out for him. I do not have available to me supplementary information in that regard.

On the 30 year rule in respect of Cabinet records, it is important to point out that the Constitution provides that the confidentiality of discussions and meetings of Government shall be respected in all circumstances except where the High Court determines that disclosures should be made in the interests of the administration of justice by a court or by virtue of an overriding public interest on foot of an application by a tribunal. Also, the Freedom of Information Act protects without time limit records that contain whole or part of a statement made at a meeting of the Government or information that reveals, or from which may be inferred, the substance of such a statement. Other exemption grounds also exist which may apply to Cabinet records. For example, they may contain material which relates to national security, the President or which is still considered to be commercially sensitive.

In considering FOI requests for Cabinet records, decision makers in Departments must consider each record individually to establish whether it is to be released either in full or in part or not at all taking into account all the requirements and exemptions provided for in the legislation. This is what FOI decision makers have always done since the legislation was first introduced and they will continue to do so in the future.

The passage of ten years since FOI became operational is simply an additional consideration which FOI decision makers must factor into the equation when making their decisions. Legislatively, we have provided a means through which certain information can be provided. However, the question of whether the general principle should be revisited in total would require careful consideration.

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