Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The position on access for the European Parliament is set out in the framework agreement. Part of the increased transparency is that it will provide broad access to all MEPs, subject to appropriate modalities to be agreed with the Parliament to ensure the confidentiality of the information provided, including taking the appropriate steps in the event of unwarranted disclosure of documents themselves or their content. MEPs are getting a certain privileged access subject to restrictions and obligations upon them. In terms of all other public interest, the Commission has made extraordinary new efforts to open this up. All the documents are provided. A full list of the documents that are going to the European Parliament is shared generally. There is an extensive report on the negotiating rounds. There is online material that explains the negotiating positions. There is engagement with civil society and the public at political and working level and increased communications and outreach efforts, and we are attempting to do the same. I have attended numerous briefings for parliamentarians and non-parliamentarians. We have invited people to contribute to debates and we have exposed everything we have that could contribute to an understanding of the issues. Clearly there are procedures in place whereby if the Deputy wants access to a particular document that is not in the public domain-----

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