Results 6,041-6,060 of 16,492 for speaker:Ciarán Lynch

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: If it were the Data Commissioner instead of the Minister, what would be the Minister's view?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: He was from the Centre for Public Scrutiny from the United Kingdom.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: My reading of the matter was that Mr. Hammond was differentiating between a vexatious request and a difficult request. That was his real intent.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: I do not believe he was advocating the accommodation of vexatious requests. He was saying that we should differentiate between a difficult or problematic request, or what might be described as a nuisance request, and a vexatious request. That is my recollection and what the report’s recommendations indicated when we put the report together.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: I am conscious that it is Deputy Mary Lou McDonald's amendment.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: We are moving into the area of repetition.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: If the Deputy is repeating his point several times, then it is repetition.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: I am conscious that we have agreed to try to finish the Bill this evening. I welcome people talking on other people's amendments, but when the person who has moved the amendment has indicated that she will not be speaking any further on it and is awaiting the Minister's response, I would advise other committee members - although I cannot direct them - to facilitate the lead person who has...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: Yes, they are and they are entitled to table amendments as well and speak to them.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: To come back to the Deputy's earlier question, he cannot propose because Deputy Donnelly tables the amendments for him. Perhaps Deputy Donnelly can make a proposal.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: Amendment No. 43 has been ruled out of order.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: Or get a scoop.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: With the quarterly assignment statistics, probably.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: It is stuff like the register of electors and quarterly unemployment statistics.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: I can give Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly one case that this committee would deal with. There are requirements under law regarding information on bank statistics and targets which are subject to omerta because of stock exchange rules. For example, when we were looking for the banks to come before the committee in July after the targets had been set, we could not see them until September owing...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: The minutes of this committee's meetings are published on its website. Administration tries to have this done as quickly as possible. They would be available under FOI legislation if we were not doing this, but somebody could say he or she wanted the minutes of a meeting as quickly as possible. There is a time line for when I would expect the clerk and the administration to have this done....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: Let me give an example. It would be like requiring Deputies by law to respond to every single person who contacted us. We not required to respond and do not respond to every single person who contacts us. There is a filtering system, particularly if it comes as a spam e-mail all the time. If there was a request and a constituency colleague of the Deputy decided to send him 1,000 e-mails...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: The offices are required by law to give a response. If 1,000 people send in the same FOI request, they would bring the Deputy's office to a standstill. That is just common sense.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: That is why I am here. I am not being vexatious; I am providing clarification.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)

Ciarán Lynch: Do sections 15 and 16 of the earlier Bill still stand or are we changing them?