Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

No, not at all. My point is the proposal in the programme for Government to restore the Freedom of Information Act to what it was before 2003 cannot be dealt with as expeditiously as I would wish, simply because of the pressure arising from the requirement to introduce other legislative items that are timelined. In other words, they must be introduced by a certain date to comply with the conditions that have been signed off in respect of the EU-IMF bailout deal. It has nothing to do with freedom of information. The Government has a particular problem in that quite a number of legislative items must be processed and drafted. The heads of those Bills must be approved, they must come before the Government to be approved and then come through both Houses to be passed within certain timelines. Obviously, the month of August is a time when those who are involved in drafting legislation take their holidays. While the Dáil will come back earlier than previously, the Government must produce, process and have passed quite a number of Bills that are required if it is to meet the conditions that have been signed off in respect of the troika. This is the only reference I wish to make to that.

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