Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for clarifying the issue. I had made a note to ask how it dovetails with Ervia, the new fancy name for Bord Gáis, of which Irish Water is a subsidiary. Bord Gáis Éireann is an exempt agency. Schedule I of the Act deals with exempt agencies. I refer to page 75 of the Act. Irish Water is a subsidiary of an exempt agency. The Minister has already agreed to make Irish Water subject to FOI, but not the parent company. The situation does not appear to work in reverse. I understand it is a different process.

The amendment has limited merit. I note that Bord na Móna is an exempt agency. I accept it is a commercial entity. One of its subsidiaries is AES, which is one of the biggest waste collection companies. There is no point in saying subsidiaries of companies are included if the parent body is an exempt agency.

When I was going through my notes on the Bill I was struck by the fact that the legislation is simple but it is very complicated to read. I have gone through it and noted the definitions for public bodies, prescribed bodies, partially included agencies, exempt agencies, enactments excluded from the Act in respect of bodies which are included in the Act, or enactments specifically included, non-disclosure enactments, exempt records and an entire section dealing with restrictions on the Act to records in terms of various types of organisations. I understand the situation outlined by the Minister in a case where the parent company is not an exempt body, partially exempt or covered by the enactments excluded, a non-disclosure enactment, an exempt record or a body whose records are subject to certain restrictions under the Act. That is good. However, a fair amount of people are excluded. It is good that subsidiaries are included, in so far as FOI applies to any body. I am sure there are more bodies, records and exemptions included but following a cursory glance I wondered how one would explain the situation, which is quite complicated. The intention of what the Minister said is good but it is quite limited.

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