Results 1,181-1,200 of 1,279 for speaker:Michael Ahern

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

Michael Ahern: He is not here today.

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

Michael Ahern: The amendment will be opposed as its effect would be to delete a necessary consequential amendment. The consultation requirements set out in section 19(4) of the principal Act will be redundant in view of the provision contained in section 12(a)(i) which substitutes the words "shall refuse" for the words "may refuse" where they appear in section 19(1) of the principal Act. The effect is to...

Seanad: Motor Insurance: Motion. (12 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: I commend Senators Ross, O'Toole and Norris for putting this motion before the House and I am delighted to be here to contribute to the debate.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: Section 1 defines the term "the Principal Act" as meaning the Freedom of Information Act 1997. The term "the Principal Act" in the explanatory memorandum has the same meaning. This section is a standard provision in all legislation and I cannot accept the Senator's amendment. Senator O'Meara should withdraw the accusation that we lied prior to the previous election. Indeed, when her own...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: It is not available, as yet.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: We were out of government then.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: We do.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: We had it before that, if the Senator had given us a chance to talk.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: The Senator asked a different question.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: Is the Senator quoting Fergus Finlay?

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: I would like to inform Senator Brian Hayes that the appendix to which he referred was published on the Internet.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: The Information Commissioner. The commissioner's commentary gives a general overview of the main proposals in the Bill and a statement of his views on how decisions taken by him in the past would have been affected if the Government's proposed amendments had been operating at that time. The commentary is made under section 39 of the 1997 Act, which provides that the commissioner can prepare...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: Not now.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: Section 2 is a standard interpretation section that defines the words "record", "local authority", "factual information" and "week". These definitions are necessary to clarify and improve the operation of the FOI Act and I cannot accept the Senator's amendments. For the record, the amendments to which Senator O'Toole is referring have been available on the Internet for the past three weeks,...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: The Freedom of Information Act 1997 states that the definition of a "record" applies to records created after 21 April 1998. In a High Court case, some doubt was cast on whether or not an exact replica of a record was a new record for the purposes of the 1997 Act. The commissioner has drawn attention to the potential difficulties if this was found to be binding in law. For example, a record...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: This suggestion was discussed with the Office of the Information Commissioner. It was decided that it could give rise to practical and legal problems if "person" were to be defined in this way.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: Senator Maurice Hayes raised a question on factual information. The Freedom of Information Act does not define this and the amendment seeks to rectify it. It is not an exhaustive definition as this would not be appropriate. The amendment is not intended to restrict the understanding of factual information, rather it seeks to clarify it.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: With regard to Senator Hayes's query about practical and legal problems, it does not apply in section 2 but I will give an example.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: A journalist makes a request on behalf of a newspaper but changes employer before a decision on that request is made. The journalist claims he made the request in a personal capacity and the newspaper claims it made the request. The public body is, therefore, drawn into a dispute. This issue is best left for guidance so it can be clarified at the time the request is made.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: I have been informed that there was a discussion with the Information Commissioner. The definition I have mentioned arose from that discussion.