Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. Unfortunately, he did not answer my question. The only rationale we seemed to get from the Minister, Deputy Howlin, yesterday was that at a time of economic hardship, we cannot make freedom of information, which is an essential part of any modern democracy, free. We have received a very thorough report from Dr. Nat O'Connor which estimates that the cost associated with charging money in these circumstances is at least as much as the money that is received. That is before many of the savings that are made on foot of investigative journalism are factored in. As we know, such good work saves the State millions of euro. There is no argument that says we have to charge fees because it costs money. The amount of money it costs to charge the fee is as much as the fee itself. Therefore, my question stands. If the State does not get a cash benefit from charging citizens to access information, why are we charging them? Why is the Taoiseach standing over legislation that will increase the cost of people getting that information? That is the question.

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