Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

Writing in the Irish Examiner in 2003, Mr. Seamus Dooley of the National Union of Journalists perhaps described best the shameful way in which Fianna Fáil, aided by senior Government officials, had literally pulled a fast one on the citizens of the State. He wrote:

Rumours that plans were afoot to bastardise the Bill emerged in early February 2003. The NUJ immediately sought and were refused meetings with the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister of State at the Department of Finance. In time it emerged that a secret review was carried out by a group of Secretaries General who did not consult with the Information Commissioner or anyone else because they had not been told to do so by the Government. The Cabinet duly met, accepted the report of the top civil servants and added in other restrictions for good measure. It was decided not to publish the Bill in the middle of the week but to wait until Friday, 28 February. On Tuesday, 4 March, Seanad Éireann was asked to consider the Bill in a bizarre debate during the course of which it emerged that some rural Senators had not even received copies of the legislation.

By 13 March, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service had agreed to hear submissions. The advice of the information Commissioner that sections of the Bill were inoperable was duly noted and ignored. Other submissions were similarly dismissed. The Taoiseach insisted that the hours spent on the debate was in some way compensation for the absence of public consultation on a Bill designed to take away rights conferred on citizens by the Oireachtas only five years ago.

The rainbow coalition Government's Freedom of Information Bill signalled a maturing in Irish politics. It was a long-awaited acceptance that open government was good and necessary and that accountability should be staple fare. Politics in Ireland has historically been shrouded in secrecy. Despite Deputy Sean Fleming's attempts at revisionism, Fianna Fáil in government has largely been responsible for the cloud hanging over Irish public life. The Deputy's legislation and this debate would not be needed if Fine Gael and the Labour Party had delivered on their programme for Government commitments made 16 months ago.

See this speech in context