Results 41-60 of 406 for speaker:Charlie McCreevy

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

Charlie McCreevy: Section 12 of the Bill, which this amendment seeks to delete, is the most important element of the Government's proposals. I cannot, therefore, accept the amendment. For the benefit of the House, I will restate the Government's position as I set it out on Second Stage.

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

Charlie McCreevy: My officials and I do not draft Bills – that is done by other experts – but the intention is as I have outlined it. I agree that the way the section is set out may be confusing, but Members should be careful in their reading of the indented subsections. Senator Mansergh and I discussed many years ago the simplification of the drafting of Bills, which is something Senator McDowell also...

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

Charlie McCreevy: There will be some tweaking.

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

Charlie McCreevy: It depends on what one thinks is substance.

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

Charlie McCreevy: What I think is tweaking, the Senator might consider substance or vice versa.

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

Charlie McCreevy: The Senator does not accept the loss of the election.

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

Charlie McCreevy: The rate of exchange of information between Departments of the State and the deliberative process of central Government can result in records relating to that process being held by a number of Departments. Some such Departments might have had only an indirect involvement or relationship to the process concerned. It is possible, therefore, for an FOI request to be made to the Department of...

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

Charlie McCreevy: Perhaps it was lucky that I took such a hard line for the benefit of that semi-State organisation.

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

Charlie McCreevy: We are not always wrong in the Department of Finance. Senator Mansergh pointed out that the idea that Secretaries General try to cosy up to Ministers is daft. Anyone who knows any Secretaries General will know that politicians will come and go but the Civil Service goes on forever. If one has been a Minister for as long as I have, one will appreciate this. Senator Mansergh has also been a...

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

Charlie McCreevy: The provisions in section 13 will achieve a high degree of confidence that records related to ongoing deliberations, particularly those within Departments of State, will be protected. While such deliberations are ongoing, but only to that extent, the Government is satisfied that the public interest favours protection. Once deliberations have concluded, the directives related to those...

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

Charlie McCreevy: It has done me no harm but, as Senator McDowell has often pointed out, I pride myself on it. The same does not apply to everyone.

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

Charlie McCreevy: I do not accept the amendment. Section 13 of the Bill provides that requests under section 7 of the 1997 Act shall be refused if a record has been certified by a Secretary General as being part of an ongoing deliberative process. It is not necessary to go beyond this. It is open to a Secretary General to certify a record up to the point at which a decision is taken on whether to grant an...

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

Charlie McCreevy: I will not accept this amendment because it runs contrary to the thrust of the provision relating to deliberative processes whereby a Secretary General, rather than the Minister, has the function of certifying that a record relates to ongoing deliberations. This amendment is based on the provisions of section 25 of the 1997 Act relating to highly sensitive records in the areas of security,...

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

Charlie McCreevy: I have already referred to this issue during discussion of a previous amendment. I do not accept this amendment. Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand," put and declared carried. Amendment declared lost.

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

Charlie McCreevy: I do not accept this amendment as it would be unduly prescriptive. The details of the manner in which decisions are issued, reviewed and revoked are best addressed in the context of guidelines rather than legislation. Guidelines on the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1997 are issued from time to time by the freedom of information central policy unit of the Department of Finance....

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

Charlie McCreevy: While I am not prepared to accept the amendment, I fully understand the concern to ensure that where a threat to a person's life or safety is being invoked to refuse a request and it is the requester's propensity to violence that is at issue, a public body and, where appropriate, the Information Commissioner should take care not to inform the requester that the relevant section is being...

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

Charlie McCreevy: I oppose this amendment. International case law supports a high degree of protection for communications and negotiations of a diplomatic nature involving Ministers and the Government. This was recognised by the Oireachtas in the original Act when ministerial and Government communications were not qualified in the manner proposed by this amendment. In drafting the Freedom of Information Act...

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

Charlie McCreevy: I oppose Senator O'Meara's amendment, which would permit a reduction in the frequency of reviews conducted jointly by the Taoiseach and such other Ministers as prescribed, currently, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance, of the operation of section 25(1) of the principal Act. Only three said directives have been the subject of certification under section 25(1) in the five year period to...

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

Charlie McCreevy: I oppose amendment No. 37. The purpose of section 19 is to clarify that the protection available to information obtained in confidence applies across public bodies. It will also permit a head to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of a record if the record is covered by the exemptions in section 26(1)(a), that is, information obtained in confidence under the principal Act where the mere...

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

Charlie McCreevy: I am not prepared to accept this amendment. Under the existing provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, a public body must be satisfied as to the identity of a requester prior to releasing information that relates to the requester or to the release of which the requester has consented. It is sensible that similar checks should be made prior to the release of commercially sensitive...