Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I have no desire to be confrontational. The difference I see is that the existing clause prohibits the disclosure of information deemed by the agency to be confidential, whereas this amendment covers information deemed either by the agency or the Minister to be confidential. I am happy that the Minister is reluctant to be too prescriptive, but it seems extraordinarily prescriptive not to allow the agency to decide what is or is not confidential, which will be the effect of the amendment. One could believe the amendment has been introduced to benefit a Minister who wishes to interfere politically and not have the matter covered by disclosure through the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, although I do not suggest that this is true of the Minister. My reading of the amendment may be incorrect, but it appears that the essence of the change is to include the Minister in the list of those who can determine what is to be seen as confidential information.