Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 70:

In page 46, line 36, to delete "concerned".

The purpose of this amendment is to correct a drafting issue. Section 20 of the 1997 Act provided that a head may refuse to grant a freedom of information request if the record concerned contains matter relating to "the deliberative processes of the public body concerned". That text was amended in the 2003 Act to refer to "the deliberative processes of a public body". The effect of the 2003 amendment is that, for example, if the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform received a freedom of information request for records relating to a deliberative process in the Department of Health, those records would be afforded the same protection as if the request had been made to the Department of Health. This is considered to be the correct approach on advice from Parliamentary Counsel.

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