Results 4,441-4,460 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

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

Martin Mansergh: We are glad the Minister was present for Report Stage so that we could thrash out all the issues in an effective manner, including those contained in the Information Commissioner's report. I do not see this as a highly political Bill, although it has been politicised. What led to it's introduction was the report of the high level group. The senior civil servants involved in that group were...

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

Martin Mansergh: Hear, hear.

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

Martin Mansergh: Quite right too.

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: The new partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress, has been published and circulated, although it is subject to ratification. Perhaps, as agreed earlier, we could have an early debate on this when the House reconvenes the week after next.

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

Martin Mansergh: I appreciate Senator Higgins has taken his objections to the provision from the commentary supplied by the NUJ. This is an entirely reasonable change. The wording refers to the work of the public body in question and there is no reference to units.

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

Martin Mansergh: The original drafting, which refers solely to disruption of "other work" as opposed to "the work" of a Department or public body, is a little illogical. If the case for rejecting a request is prima facie unreasonable, there is a strong chance a dissatisfied requester would make an appeal to the Information Commissioner. We should move away from the notion that civil servants will be prone to...

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

Martin Mansergh: The explanatory memorandum refers to "the work of a particular unit or section".

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

Martin Mansergh: It is illogical to allow disruption of other work to be used as a ground to refuse a request, while excluding as a ground disruption of the work to which the request relates. There is no logical defence of this position.

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

Martin Mansergh: The House has to have an interest in good and efficient administration and it is extraordinary that fellow Senators should create difficulties about excluding frivolous, vexatious and manifestly unreasonable requests from the Bill. Who decides on these requests? In the first instance, it is the body or the persons in the body who receive the request. However, if their decision is unreasonable...

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

Martin Mansergh: While I go along with the Senator to a large extent, frivolous is not precisely the same as vexatious, which in turn is not necessarily precisely the same as manifestly unreasonable. Any public servant would be very slow to find any FOI requests from Senator Henry or any other Member of the Oireachtas to be manifestly unreasonable. One can turn the argument around. If it is accepted without...

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

Martin Mansergh: It should be acknowledged that public bodies, civil servants and public servants can make wrong decisions or decisions that are found to be erroneous by the Information Commissioner without this being blatant, deliberate or in bad faith. We have no evidence from the commissioner's report that the Eastern Health Board was acting in bad faith and we should not assume that. Regardless of the...

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

Martin Mansergh: Does this amendment relate to paragraph (e) rather than paragraph (c)? I do not see the term "requester" in paragraph (c).

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

Martin Mansergh: The NUJ argument about sister publication is exceptionally far-fetched.

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

Martin Mansergh: In the case of the National Archives, documents are released with sections blacked out and, therefore, it is quite clear there are items missing. I assume, in the case of a Government record being given out, other than re-typing and giving it in that form, it must be obvious from the deletions or blacking out that it is incomplete.

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

Martin Mansergh: This amendment reflects the fact that in recent years much Government work is carried on in Government sub-committees and much of the ground is cleared by those sub-committees. In the case of particular problems relating to a Government decision, one could delegate a group of three or four very senior officials, which, depending on the question, might or might not include an adviser, to look...

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

Martin Mansergh: We are talking about several deletions in amendments.

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

Martin Mansergh: This is a matter of legitimate debate on this section.

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

Martin Mansergh: I accept that. It involves the deletion of several lines in this section.

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

Martin Mansergh: That is what we are discussing. We are discussing committees that report to Government or sub-committees of Government.

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

Martin Mansergh: All three clauses covered by this first amendment are to do with facilitating good and consistent government. The problem with the word "may" as opposed to "shall", although I accept that it would prevent the release of information only rarely, is that it implies an element of discretion: it opens up the possibility of people reaching different decisions on similar cases. It is about clarity...