Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Work is proceeding on the health information Bill. It is not in the priority list and will not be published before the Dáil ends its duty. The Minister had intended to introduce a particular kind of Bill on open disclosure. This will not go ahead in the manner he first envisaged.

Regarding the review, the Government made a decision that a former Chief Justice should examine the application and operation of the law in this case. When the allegations were made that GSOC had been bugged, people were very strongly of the opinion that GSOC should be given a full range of powers and investigative facilities. However, when the recent incident came to light, they changed their tune and said we had to consider the question of the law.

I would say that this is not a simple matter. The question of the use, retention and retrieval of data is one that has other implications in terms of terrorist activities and relations between different countries and between companies and countries. For now, the Government has made a clear decision that a former Chief Justice should review the operation of the law as it applies at the moment to members of the journalistic profession and report to the Minister for Justice and Equality inside three months. I think that is appropriate and warranted.

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