Results 17,121-17,140 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

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)

Brendan Howlin: That is fine.

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)

Brendan Howlin: I agree with the points being made by the Deputies that the role of the FOI central policy unit, which now exists in my Department, needs to be enhanced in terms of establishing, supporting and securing compliance with good practice in public bodies. We will be producing the code of practice. I will lay it before the committee and we will discuss it. Members will, no doubt, be talking in...

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)

Brendan Howlin: For the reasons I have outlined, the intentions of the Deputy will be met by the administrative procedures I have set out. I do not need to establish a new office of data manager.

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)

Brendan Howlin: I will not accept them for the reasons I have laid out.

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)

Brendan Howlin: I was not sure of the Deputy's intention in tabling these amendments. My Department has communicated with the General Register Office to ascertain whether any difficulties arise in this regard. The office is part of the Department of Social Protection and, as such, it is covered by freedom of information provisions. I note that the committee's report recommended that the General Register...

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)

Brendan Howlin: The general records of the General Register Office - that is, the register of births and so forth - are public documents which are subject to freedom of information legislation and readily accessible. One can check these documents without recourse to 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)

Brendan Howlin: This amendment would make it a requirement that every single order proposed to be made be subject to a positive resolution. Where there are substantial issues such as the inclusion or exclusion of anybody or any organisation, it will require a positive resolution of the Houses. Where minor changes need to be made, they will not require a positive resolution unless someone tables a...

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)

Brendan Howlin: It means formally tabling an order in the House that will require a vote.

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)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 7: In page 15, lines 26 to 28, to delete all words from and including “Subject” in line 26 down to and including “Act:” in line 28 and substitute the following:“Subject to subsections (2) and (3), each of the following (other than an entity specified in Part 2 of Schedule 1, a subsidiary of such an entity, a body directly or indirectly...

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)

Brendan Howlin: Irish Water was only recently established and another Bill is under way in the Houses which will provide for a structured reporting mechanism to the Oireachtas and the regulatory authorities. That Bill will assign responsibility for economic regulation to the Commission for Energy Regulation, putting Irish Water in the same position as regards clarity and transparency in economic performance...

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)

Brendan Howlin: Amendment No. 9 seeks to include the Office of the President in the definition of a public body under section 6. Section 42 sets out several areas where the Freedom of Information Act does not apply. This amendment would provide for the removal of the records relating to the President from this section. This matter has already been dealt with under section 6. The general view is that the...

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)

Brendan Howlin: The model freedom of information legislation is the United Kingdom’s and it exempts the Head of State from 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)

Brendan Howlin: Some countries do include the Head of State in their freedom of information legislation. However, on balance, a case was made, not by the President, that the general practice had been that the Houses did not encroach on the independence of the Office of the President. Including this amendment would be perceived as an intrusion on that office.

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)

Brendan Howlin: I would be most reluctant to involve the President in any of the discussion. It should be for us to make the determination. I do not have a closed view on it. The general point is that one does not bring the Office of the President into controversy. That is merely the prevailing standard. That is why one does not mention the Office of the President in debates of the House. It is above...

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)

Brendan Howlin: Those whom we consult in all of these matters are the officials of the line Department responsible. In this case, it is the officials who deal with the Office of the President in the Department of the Taoiseach.

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)

Brendan Howlin: I am interested in hearing members' views.

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)

Brendan Howlin: We made great progress on Deputy Sean Fleming's amendments in his absence.

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)

Brendan Howlin: I know that.

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)

Brendan Howlin: Deputy Fleming insisted that the amendment be dealt with separately, but now we are putting it back in the group.

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)

Brendan Howlin: The Chairman will guide me if I go astray in terms of not being comprehensive in my reply. We had this discussion in principle during the pre-legislative scrutiny and Deputy Donnelly and I disagreed on the commercial semi-states. It would be a major impediment to the success of the commercial semi-states to place a burden on them to give information simply because they are in State...