Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is self-explanatory that the authority should come under the Freedom of Information Act. This is important. There is the whole issue of transparency, accountability and independence. Why would we not grant the ability to make an FOI request? The Minister of State might not think it is necessary. We discussed it at the justice committee. It is always important to put in protections and we feel this is a protection that could be added in. We do not see the reason why it cannot be added in. Why would we not do it? The freedom of information request is a very important tool for people. We had a conversation earlier about having people with lived experience on the board or limiting the amount of people from the industry on the board. That is why freedom of information is really important for independence and transparency. I ask the Minister of State to look at it again.

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