Results 1,761-1,780 of 1,966 for speaker:Mary Henry

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

Mary Henry: I am not trying to be vexatious or frivolous, but it is profoundly depressing for us and for the Minister of State, because he is perfectly competent, to know that we are going through this and he is not in a position to take even an amendment as minor as that before us. I sympathise with him and Senator Mansergh because some of these issues are so minor that if the Minister of State was...

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

Mary Henry: I move amendment No. 4: In page 8, lines 40 to 43 and in page 9, lines 1 to 18, to delete paragraph (a). I am out of the traps at last. It is unfortunate that we have to table amendments at all. The main thrust of the Bill was to be that the time limit for disclosure of Government papers would be extended from five to ten years. I would have no difficulty with that if, for the workings of...

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

Mary Henry: May I point out to Senator Mansergh that, according to the definition in the Bill: "'officials' means two or more of the following: (a) a person holding a position in the Civil Service of the Government or the Civil Service of the State;". Nothing here says anything about senior officials. It could be anyone. It continues: "(b) a special adviser within the meaning of section 19 of the Ethics...

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

Mary Henry: It is here on page 10. Senator Mansergh stated that these officials would only be senior officials.

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

Mary Henry: Sorry, but Senator Mansergh spoke about the officials. That is why I thought I had better clarify what I was talking about. I am not the one who started talking about them. It would be a good idea if we were all talking about the same matters at the same time.

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

Mary Henry: Yes, but I am not the one who started talking about the officials. As the amendments will not be accepted anyway, why am I wasting my breath?

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

Mary Henry: We are always being told in other legislation that we are not to put in "shall" and we must have "may", and here the Minister is doing the opposite.

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

Mary Henry: I move amendment No. 5: In page 9, lines 19 to 23, to delete paragraph (b). This is a small change to the original Bill and I cannot understand the reason it is being made. Perhaps the Minister of State will explain.

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

Mary Henry: I move amendment No. 6: In page 9, to delete lines 24 to 39, to delete paragraph (c) and substitute the following: "(3) Subject to the provisions of this act, subsection (1) does not apply to a record referred to in that subsection– (a)if and in so far as it contains factual information relating to a decision of the Government that has been published to the general public, or (b)if the...

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

Mary Henry: As I said, my concern with the Bill is not the extension, from five to ten years, of the protection of Government deliberations but that they are to be excluded from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

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

Mary Henry: I strongly support the comments of Senator O'Toole. Common politeness suggests it would be advisable to inform former Ministers of what might be coming down the tracks in terms of the disclosure of information. They should at least know the nature of the request.

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

Mary Henry: All the points have been covered. I previously stated that the definition of official is so wide that, as Senator O'Meara pointed out, anybody can be included. On the Order of Business I mentioned all the committees within the Department of Health and Children. The real problem is that they do not report and now we will not be able to find out anything about them. I would like to read into...

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

Mary Henry: Is this the Minister of State's reward for having so intelligently and sensitively brought through this House the Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Bill at very short notice? Did he draw the short straw or did the Government decide, on the basis that he got through that one so well, that it would put him in the firing line once again? I gather on that occasion he had about a...

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

Mary Henry: We should abandon this discussion in order to allow Members to have at least the advantage of having read the report. I have complained repeatedly in this House that we seem to think that when we get reports, we have done something but that is not the case. They must be read and we have to use the information contained in them. I have never seen more reports from Departments than in the past...

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

Mary Henry: It is not.

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

Mary Henry: I cannot understand the reason Senator Mansergh appeared to believe that a Member on this side was querying the competence of the Minister of State. I have congratulated the Minister of State on his intelligence already in bringing through a previous Bill. We do not harbour personal resentment towards him. He is a competent Minister of State. The question, however, is whether the Bill was...

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

Mary Henry: I do not think so, and I will quickly explain the reason. This is a very important issue.

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

Mary Henry: I will conclude quickly. We wanted to get information because those figures could be included under deaths in hospital. I could not get them from the Department of Health and Children, so I put in a request under the Freedom of Information Act and it was refused on a technicality. It said I could try the Central Statistics Office but while the CSO would know the place of death of the person,...

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

Mary Henry: This is a report of major importance, through which I am trying to speed read. I am giving you an example of where I have already had difficulty with the original Bill. The Department said I could appeal the decision, but an appeal would take six weeks to three months. That is one example which I could pick out immediately.

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

Mary Henry: I thank the Leader also. Sitting suspended at 5.10 p.m. and resumed at 6.30 p.m.