Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have backdated it to last year for practical reasons. As I told the Deputy yesterday, the Refugee Applications Commissioner has 4 million paper files, so there must be some level of understanding of practicality. However, from last year, everything will be amenable to freedom of information and that will be the case into the future, for the first time.

It is very difficult to listen to lectures from Deputy Fleming, who eviscerated the original freedom of information legislation introduced by a Labour Party Minister, or to listen to words such as "a shroud of secrecy" from Sinn Féin, and particularly from Deputy McDonald, who could lift the shroud of secrecy on many goings-on if she had the courage-----

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