Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Ombudsman legislation and the Freedom of Information Act was to be extended to ensure that all bodies which receive significant public funds are covered.

I share the concerns that have been expressed about the difficulty of getting information about the criteria for primary care centres. One would need to be Inspector Columbo to get to the bottom of the matter. It must be six weeks since it arose.

Last July the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brian Hayes, indicated that new legislation would be introduced by next April to restore the Freedom of Information Act to its original purpose. One of the problems with the current Act, which Fianna Fáil introduced, is the exorbitant fees charged. These have resulted in a reduction by half in the number of requests under the Act. I ask the Taoiseach to outline the total amount and average fee charged by his Department for freedom of information requests and whether fees can be removed or minimised. These are important rights for citizens but they cease to be rights if one has to pay exorbitant fees for them because then they become privileges.

It is difficult for me to concentrate when Ministers are conversing.

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