Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While the day-to-day operation of the freedom of information legislation is a reserved Civil Service function, there are many dimensions to it that directly concern the political head of each Department and each is responsible to the Dáil when it comes to the overall approach. Equally, while the Freedom of Information Acts set a legal minimum on what must be released, the political head of a Department is, with very limited exceptions, fully entitled to instruct officials to be less restrictive.

The Taoiseach will be aware of a curious story which has appeared in recent days concerning a freedom of information request made to his Department regarding communications between him and his political appointees and media owners. Apparently the person who submitted the request has been contacted by the Department to suggest that gathering this information is a huge undertaking and to ask that the request be limited.

This suggests that either there is a wish to not release something or that there is a volume of correspondence with media owners far beyond anything seen in the past. In this age of searchable emails and a requirement that all documents be maintained on a departmental server, how is it credible to suggest that it would take more than a short time to comply with such a request? Can the Taoiseach provide clarity on this issue? Is he satisfied that all members of his staff are maintaining records as required by the Act? Have the Taoiseach and his officials stopped the habit that we saw in 2017 of using personal email accounts for official communications?

See this speech in context