Results 1,421-1,440 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I accept the thrust of the Minister's argument. It leaves the anomalous position whereby an individual who comes across personal information acquired under the terms of this Act would be enabled to require an amendment to that information, but if it is acquired outside the terms of the FOI Act, he or she could not. I do accept that if it is extended in an uncontrolled way, it may end up...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 20. In page 8, to delete lines 39 to 43 in page 9, to delete lines 1 to 46 and in page 10, to delete lines 1 to 46. This is a substantial amendment because it deals with two of the most controversial sections of the Bill. Section 12 deals with section 19 of the original FOI Act. Sitting suspended at 1.30 p.m. and resumed at 2p.m.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: We had just started our discussion of amendment No. 20 which, in effect, seeks to delete section 12, one of the two most important sections of the Bill and which provided the pretext for the review which the Government carried out in the first instance. Like others on this side of the House, I am not particularly exercised about when Cabinet papers should be released as I accept the principle...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: We now understand clearly what most of us suspected. The Minister has no intention of responding to the considerable public debate on this issue.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: But nothing of substance.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: The Minister is the one who made the distinction between substance and tweaking.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: The Minister's response discloses his perspective which, to be fair, he has never tried to keep secret. He said at the outset that the Government is entitled to order its business just like anybody else. In his Cheltenham comments of last week, he pointed out that the Opposition had lost the election and that it was up to the Government to decide what to do. I do not accept that. I accept...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I accept that much, but I do not accept that the Government can make its decisions in an untrammelled way. The Minister is not entitled to say that the Government has no duty to explain or to say that he need not justify the changes he is making. After all, the Government acts on behalf of and in the name of the people and it has a responsibility to take that into account when ordering its...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 25: In page 11, line 13, to delete "a Department of State" and substitute "the Department of State concerned". This amendment refers to section 13 which deals with the deliberative process. There is a process of certification by the Secretary General set out in this section, whereby the Secretary General can say that a deliberative process is ongoing. If he or she does...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I will not comment on the Minister's reflections. He and Senator Mansergh make the case well for those of us proposing the amendment by saying that, while the Bill is drafted in a way that allows a Secretary General to do a particular thing, they would never do it. However, that begs the question of why one would draft the legislation in such a way that would allow a Secretary General to...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment. The existing provision effectively says that the Secretaries General must justify a decision to refuse. The presumption in the section is in favour of the release of information, so a Secretary General must show that releasing the information would damage the public interest. The section, as amended by the Bill, would effectively reverse that onus, so that the...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment. We are seeking to delete the provision in the Bill which cuts off the line of appeal. Section 13(1A)(c) states that an application for a review or an appeal to the commissioner shall not lie in the event of certification by a Secretary General. This gives a Secretary General untrammelled discretion to determine that a deliberative process is ongoing. The granting of...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment to which I was anxious to move before the Minister had to leave for a European Council meeting. What we are trying to do in this amendment is to row back on the class exemption the Minister is seeking to give certain matters. The 1997 Act effectively provides, in matters of international affairs, matters relating to Northern Ireland, matters relating to security of the...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I do not disagree with what the Minister has said. If information is important to the security of the State, if it is important and sensitive – to use the Minister's words – and its release will do harm, under the Act, as it stands, it will not be released. Both the Minister and Senator Mansergh spoke about clarity. Of course one can get clarity if one simply closes the door. In effect,...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment. I cannot help but remark that the Minister is giving the Information Commissioner short shrift today. We thought we would give him one more opportunity to accept some of the amendments the commissioner suggested to his Department a few months ago. This amendment strikes me as being technical and one which the Minister may wish to consider seriously.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I second the amendment.