Results 261-280 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: The fallacy of the argument being made is that it assumes that anything done, said or written by officials, special advisers, spin doctors or whatever is covered by this exemption whereas in fact the clause is very tightly drawn. It states: "(b) a committee of officials . appointed by the Government for the purpose of assisting the Government in relation to a particular matter that has been...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I am being factual. It is not a pejorative statement, it is a factual statement.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: The crux of the argument is that it is not possible to separate the deliberation of Government to purely what takes place at the Cabinet table. Much spadework has to be done before going into Cabinet and the important decisions are almost never taken at the first meeting. Some matters are discussed several times before a decision is made and senior officials have to tease out details. We are...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: And will continue to do so.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I do not read it that way. Senator O'Meara quoted the 1997 debates. We have seen in practice in the last two days something that is not always understood – the job of the Opposition is to be devil's advocate. She has played that role well.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: It is not necessarily a reflector of what that party would do if it was in government. It is the Opposition's job to put the opposite point of view to that of Government.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: It is their role to put independent points of view. As Senator Dardis is tied by being in the Chair, I will give my understanding of the Progressive Democrats ideology.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I understand it as a liberal ideology. The party is associated with the Liberal group in the European Parliament.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: The end result will be very liberal. I read this key section in a much more restrictive fashion. It is not meant to cover the reports of expert groups or advisory groups. The interpretation of this section will be decided by the Information Commissioner when disputed cases arise.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: Where a difficult decision comes to Government and issues are referred back for further study to a committee of Ministers, Ministers and officials or even senior officials, that is different from the reports of expert groups.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: This section should be interpreted very tightly as relating strictly to the deliberative process at Cabinet and intermediate stage.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: That is what it states. The Opposition talks about blanket exemptions but there is none. If any official tried to operate a blanket exception, he or she would be shot down by the Information Commissioner.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: In my experience it is very rare that there are outsiders at meetings of officials or of officials and Ministers. To address the concerns of the House, section 12(2)(c) could be clarified.

Seanad: Convention on the Future of Europe: Statements. (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I thank Deputy John Bruton for his stimulating speech and pay tribute to the quality of the contribution of his advocacy for the European Union, something he shares in common with his two predecessors as Leader of Fine Gael. The quality of its advocacy is something about which the party can be really proud. I agree entirely with what the Deputy said on the state and super-state. He may have...

Seanad: Order of Business. (20 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: It can still be relevant tomorrow.

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

Martin Mansergh: On a point of clarification, can one speak once on each amendment or once overall?

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

Martin Mansergh: I warmly welcome the Minister to the House for Report Stage. This is what might be called a wrecking amendment. The Bill could not be called anything else given that it is related to previous legislation.

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

Martin Mansergh: That is what Mrs. Thatcher said.

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

Martin Mansergh: I was just correcting the attribution.

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

Martin Mansergh: I wish to make a general comment on the debate so far. It would help the debate, once the preliminaries are over, if we concentrate on the merits or otherwise of each of the amendments rather than going around the houses on every particular issue. I intend to approach this debate in a rational and reasonable manner. These amendments appear to be quite reasonable technical amendments, but the...