Results 6,661-6,680 of 9,823 for speaker:Thomas Byrne
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: When we talk about the Office of the President, I am not talking about President Michael D. Higgins. I have never discussed him in this Seanad and will not do so today. Let this be understood before the debate goes ahead.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The Constitution talks a lot about the presidency. It talks about the possibility in some cases, as mentioned before the last election, of impeaching a President. There could well be discussions at some time in the future about the President, but I think the Office of the President is different from the President. Nobody is looking under FOI legislation for a letter that he sends to a Head...
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: In terms of their actions, they would be subject to FOI legislation if they were working in a different Department, but I would like to see the scope being broadened to some extent. We are not looking for information on the President's affairs. We are not looking for information on his business, as Head of State, with other Heads of State, meetings with the Taoiseach or any of these...
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I move amendment No. 9: In page 15, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: "(b) the Office of the President;".These amendments seek to insert some extra bodies and important offices so they will be within the scope of the legislation.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: For my tuppence worth, I agree with Senator Norris on marital status but I disagree on the trade union issue.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: They would be exempt anyway.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: What the Minister has set out in the draft guidelines is not as strong as the UK Information Commissioner’s approach, which is as follows: Information held in non-work personal email accounts (e.g. Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail) may be subject to FOIA if it relates to the official business of the public authority. All such information which is held by someone who has a direct, formal...
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: They already have access to it under existing FOI legislation, except that there is a constitutional provision regarding the private papers of Deputies and Senators.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I withdraw amendment No. 11.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I move amendment No. 4: In page 14, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:“(e) any correspondence electronic or otherwise even if such correspondence is not carried out on the official networks of the public body,”.I want to highlight an issue that I am not sure is covered in the Bill. I discussed the matter last wek with the Minister's officials, to whom I am...
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: He did.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I will read the article to be sure to be sure.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The headline on the article was "Rabbitte foils FOI by hiding his meetings".
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The article stated: "Pat Rabbitte has revealed he very deliberately avoids recording all his meeting in a ministerial diary to prevent the contents being released under the Freedom of Information Act". The quote from the former Minister is as follows: In my case it's a digital diary but I keep a parallel diary ... I don't necessarily put everything that I do into [the digital diary], very...
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: It would still be covered by FOI exemptions.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: It is. If the official business of the State is being carried out in private e-mails, which has been a problem in the United Kingdom-----
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: That is not what I am looking for.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Would Deputy Pat Rabbitte's secret diary fall under FOI legislation? From what the Minister said, I understand it would not. I am not referring to private correspondence, personal information or commercially sensitive information, which would be exempt. The concerns raised by Senator David Norris are not a problem. I am trying to address something which happened in the United Kingdom and...
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Perhaps the Minister would respond to the situation in respect of An Taisce, which, as highlighted by my colleague, Senator O'Donovan, on the last occasion we discussed this Bill, is not publicly funded but has statutory functions.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Does the Minister envisage An Taisce being subject to FOI requests?