Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said, I am not aware of the ability for FOI requests to be granted and issued orally but I accept that the Deputy is raising important matters on governance, transparency and standards in public life. To go back to the FOI request that is at the heart of this parliamentary question, as I have said, this is an Act that works well. I heard Deputy Nash refer to the black marker and I want to reaffirm to the House that the black marker is not wielded by Ministers when it comes to FOI requests that come in about them. That is decided by others. However, what we will be doing is continuing to assess the FOI legislation. As I said, we have received a variety of different submissions. I will be giving that consideration and seeing if amendments, improvements or changes to the scheme are needed.

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