Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is right that the deliberative process is important but far too often we see peculiar responses coming from Government Departments where they are hiding behind the deliberative process and where there is no reason in this wide world why they should not be more open. It depends on the particular request made but there is far too liberal use of the black marker and there are some extraordinary circumstances that are not justified. I hope the review will be conscious of that.

There are many additional bodies that are heavily funded by the State but that are not under the remit of FOI and I urge the Minister to consider that in the context of his review of the development of legislation. In the middle of this year it will have been two years since the review started. It is quite likely now that it will be 2024 or late this year before we will see draft heads of a Bill. We need to move with greater pace to reform the FOI system. Information is key and it is a fast-moving world we are living in. We need to modernise our system and we need to do that urgently.

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