Results 48,121-48,140 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: Is commercial sensitivity covered anywhere else in the legislation?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: Am I correct to think the only grounds given for exemption are based on commercial sensitivity?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: Therefore, the question I ask is whether the Minister's rationale for exempting them is on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: Therefore, information released under the freedom of information provisions would be commercially sensitive.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: That is what commercial sensitivity means. This is my question.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: No, I do not. Will the Minister give me what is included in the list which is not commercial sensitivity?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: My question is what is the rationale beyond commercial sensitivity.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: That is because the information is commercially sensitive. Is that correct?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: What are the other issues?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: That is fine, but I still cannot find anything in what the Minister has said that is not to do with commercial sensitivity. The only thing the Minister has added to commercially sensitive information is third party data, but Government Departments have third party data from companies and they clearly know how to deal with it. I do not think commercially sensitive information should be...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: Perhaps the Minister is not. Perhaps he should not disregard what I am saying as ramblings. Perhaps, heaven forbid, I am making a point.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: Then the Minister should not patronise me.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: I will try to move on. I am not saying I am right; I am really trying to understand the list. Will the Minister give me an example of information that it would be right and proper these organisations would not share and that would not be covered by commercial sensitivity?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: They are commercially sensitive. I am asking for an example of something that is not commercially sensitive.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: At the risk of annoying committee members, I would like to go through this list, because creating an exempt list in legislation is a very serious thing to do. In the Minister's response I would like him to explain why they should be exempt and what principles are at stake. Commercial sensitivity may be one of them, but are there others? What is the full list of reasons for any organisation...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: Was the view of President Higgins sought? I wonder whether that might be worth doing before Report Stage. I have sympathy with Deputy Boyd Barrett's position. Maybe it is something that the Office of the President would embrace as part of moving towards a more transparent Oireachtas.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: So long as we can continue to discuss it.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: He will be on his way shortly.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: It would be worth pursuing to apply a general principle of transparency. I see no down side to it but I do see an up side. It is probably marginal.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2013)
Stephen Donnelly: When I told the Minister, he said he did not believe me.