Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

When the Freedom of Information Acts were introduced they applied to about 67 public bodies and they now extend to more than 500 public bodies, an eight-fold increase in the number of organisations to whom the legislation applies. This indicates to me that there has been an extension over time to include many areas of activity which were not initially contemplated to be included. I am sure they were contemplated but the legislation had to start somewhere and these were included over time with a wider application of the Act. I do not think there is any disagreement on that point. Some changes were introduced arising out of the operation of the Act as there were indications that the freedom of information legislation was being used almost as a trawling exercise all over the place. This resulted in a significant use of time and effort with no specific objective in mind other than to find a whole heap of information. The purpose of the legislation has to be to provide information but to do so in a way that meets objectives. It was designed for individuals or others seeking information rather than people having to trawl all over the place and people not being sure what information was being sought. In my view, the appeals mechanism and fees process put in place have not compromised to any extent the work of legislation and, quite the contrary, as there has been a few extensions of this legislation.

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