Results 101-120 of 1,279 for speaker:Michael Ahern

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

Michael Ahern: I will not accept this amendment as it would mean that a clear pattern of manifestly unreasonable requests from a single requester or a group of requesters acting in concert could not constitute grounds for refusal. The need for such protection was adequately demonstrated by the Minister for Finance in his speech to the House on Second Stage, when he drew attention to the example of a...

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

Michael Ahern: I am opposed to this amendment. There are no grounds for restricting to 12 months the period for which a public body could invoke the provision whereby a failure to pay a fee properly charged under FOI can constitute grounds for refusal of a request. This would serve to restrict unduly a public body when taking unreasonable behaviour into account. The payment of a fee is a requirement under...

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

Michael Ahern: According to the 1997 Act, the requester is the person who makes a request under section 7. It is an individual, not a group. It should also be borne in mind that the public body can waive fees if it deems the circumstances suitable. Amendment put and declared lost. Section 7 agreed to. SECTION 8. Question proposed: "That section 8 stand part of the Bill."

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

Michael Ahern: With regard to the section, the purpose of this technical consequential amendment is to ensure that, where access is granted to parts of records and there is a refusal to confirm or deny the existence or non-existence of a record under the provisions of sections 19, 20 or 21 of the Bill, public bodies are not obliged to disclose the existence or non-existence of a record in a notification to...

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

Michael Ahern: The Department officials would be glad to brief the Senator on the intricacies of the question he has raised.

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

Michael Ahern: Yes.

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

Michael Ahern: A person might sometimes request information which he or she knows to exist but which cannot be disclosed for certain reasons. It is a very technical area and I suggest it would be better if the Senator went through it with the Department officials. Question put and agreed to. SECTION 9. Question proposed: "That section 9 stand part of the Bill."

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

Michael Ahern: Section 9 amends section 14 of the principal Act by the inclusion of the amendment, consequential to the amendments proposed in sections 19, 20 and 21. Also, subsection (viii) is being substituted. The effect is to require a head to notify any person whom he or she considers relevant that an application of section 14 of the principal Act has been withdrawn. Guidelines will be issued by the...

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

Michael Ahern: There will be a hard copy.

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

Michael Ahern: In response to the Senator's comment on cutting the debate short, a hard copy will be available on request to anybody seeking it. I should add that these amendments have been recommended by the Information Commissioner. Question put and agreed to. Section 11 agreed to. SECTION 12.

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

Michael Ahern: The provisions which the amendment would delete reflect the Government's considered view of the limited changes necessary to the protections available for Cabinet records to ensure effective government, consistent with the principles underlined in the Freedom of Information Act 1997. The relevant provisions also reflect the Government's considered view of the additional protection necessary...

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

Michael Ahern: They do not.

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

Michael Ahern: That is covered under subsection (c) in lines 35 to 39. The provisions also reflect the expert opinion and experience of the five Secretaries General who conducted the review of the operation of provisions of the FOI Act impacting on sensitive areas of government. I will not accept the amendments as their effect would be to remove provisions which, as I have said, are based on the opinion of...

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

Michael Ahern: The Senator says "shall". The Government's decision is that the word "shall" will be substituted for the word "may". Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

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

Michael Ahern: I will not accept the amendment as its effect would be to delete what is a necessary consequential amendment to one contained in section 12 (a) of the Bill, namely, the substitution of the words "shall refuse" for the words "may refuse" in subsection (1) of section 19 of the principal Act. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

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

Michael Ahern: I will not accept this amendment as its impact would mean that communications between Ministers inextricably connected with the Cabinet process and the exercise of collective responsibility would not be subject to protection for ten years on the same basis as other Cabinet records. This would go against the general thrust of the Bill and the report of the group of Secretaries General which...

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

Michael Ahern: That was Maeve McDonagh from UCC.

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

Michael Ahern: I did not hear "Morning Ireland" so I cannot comment on that.

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

Michael Ahern: I oppose amendment No. 8, which would qualify the protection that is available to all Cabinet records in a way that is not applicable under the existing Act. I am satisfied that the potential for the release of such records to undermine collective ministerial responsibility is not limited to the categories set out in the amendment. It is notable that the framers of the original Act did not...

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

Michael Ahern: As Senator Dardis said, it is not appropriate for the Attorney General to become involved in executive decision-making. He or she has a role in advising the Government and it would not be appropriate to change that role to give the Attorney General decision-making power.