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

I move amendment No. 89:

In page 73, to delete lines 12 to 33.

This amendment concerns the Labour Relations Commission which I will not press.

Amendment No. 91 relates to the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA. While we will not go the wire on this, I am still shocked how the agency and the Department of Finance got one over on the Minister on this. Here we are opening up freedom of information, abolishing fees and encouraging open government and open data, but the Minister’s friends in high places got at him to put in an amendment to ensure information concerning the remuneration, terms and conditions of those in the NTMA are not available to freedom of information, other than when that information is contained in the records in summary or collective form such as that individuals cannot be identified. A cloak of secrecy is being put around the pay of the top people in the NTMA. Shame on the Minister for falling for that. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, obviously told the Minister he can have his freedom of information but he keeps his secrecy for his NTMA. That is not a good development.

Amendments Nos. 98 and 100 seek to have Bord na Móna and Coillte, respectively, taken out of the Schedule of exempt agencies. Could the same as was done with ESB Networks and EirGrid by moving them into Schedule 1 Part 1 be done in the case of these commercial semi-State agencies?

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