John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To conclude the comments I made at the outset on the second amendment to which the Deputies referred, the change in the law this amendment speaks to is necessitated by a specific issue that arose during the course of a review of a freedom of information decision by the Information Commissioner, which in part involved records that are taxpayer confidential. Under the current provisions of section 851A, officials in the Department of Finance are precluded from providing these records to the Information Commissioner as to do so could constitute a criminal offence. On the other hand, however, under the Freedom of Information Act there is a statutory requirement to furnish this information to the Information Commissioner and failure to comply may constitute a criminal offence. That has resulted in a highly unsatisfactory legal position with the conflicting legislative provisions, and prevents the Department providing the records to the Information Commissioner as it wishes to do. That is the purpose of it.

On the broader discussion about specific amendments, those will be matters for debate on Committee Stage. Regarding our role in the future with development funds and banks, particularly in Africa and Asia, I am very familiar with the Asian Development Bank and the efforts it is making. Earlier this year, I was in Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for a few days. We have a permanent member on the Asian Development Bank, Mr. Gibbons, who happens to be from Kilkenny also but of a famous name, and he explained to me some of the issues Deputy Burton spoke about such as moving away from the big bang infrastructural projects to more people-based projects. In terms of some of the forms of agriculture, the production in Malaysia of palm, which is something I was not very aware of but is a highly sought after product, has led to a conflict between that industry and environmental issues. I am aware the Asian Development Bank is examining ways of ensuring that Malaysian farmers will have alternative sources of income and activity into the future. I agree with the Deputy on that but, ultimately, those will be matters for discussion on Committee Stage.

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