Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that Uisce Éireann will be brought under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and that those provisions will be applied retrospectively from last July. It is a U-turn on the part of the Minister and Fianna Fáil, if I correctly heard the latter welcoming this. Fianna Fáil had intended to restrict the legislation further.

When I submitted a parliamentary question in November, the Minister defended the exclusion of commercial State bodies on the grounds that it would lead to an uneven playing field where there was competition with private companies. In Uisce Éireann's case, however, there is no such competitor, nor should there be. This is a State company and will be the sole provider of water.

Regardless of that, our position is that commercial semi-States should be included in the Schedule of bodies covered by freedom of information. Other legislative protections can be provided to deal with commercial sensitivities. I therefore call for the inclusion of Coillte given its central role in the planning of wind farms in the midlands for electricity export. Coillte has avoided discussing many other issues for which it has been accountable on the grounds that it is supposedly a commercial company. What the Minister is doing is good, as it will help us to learn what is happening at Uisce Éireann, but I urge him to consider including Coillte in this context as well. Before his party entered into office, it promised to do so if in power.

It is important that freedom of information exists and is being applied retrospectively. I have asked many parliamentary questions about Uisce Éireann, but it has been frustrating. I looked across at Ministers and Ministers of State who either did not know the answers or needed to fob me off. This is regrettable. For example, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, was put in an awkward position. There are lessons to be learned from this process. We turned on a radio news programme and all of the answers that we had been trying to get in the House for months were broadcast over the airwaves in a matter of minutes.

There has been much discussion on strengthening the role of the House. The Minister is committed to doing so, but the Uisce Éireann fiasco diminished the role of the elected representative of all parties. Whatever we might think of one another, we have been elected by our constituents and should be able to get straight answers about taxpayers' money. Anywhere public money is spent, elected representatives should be able to get answers to reasonable questions within a reasonable time.

I hope that we receive full and open answers to Dáil questions on Uisce Éireann. Perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will allow the Minister to respond, as I am unsure of the format of this debate.

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