Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I move amendment No. 15:

In page 18, line 17, after "Oireachtas", to insert "and shall at the same time cause the report to be published by electronic means".

I welcome the Minister back to the House for Report Stage. We have taken up quite an amount of his time. We tabled the amendment on Committee Stage and had a good debate on it then. For that reason, there is probably no need to go over it again.

I will repeat one aspect of the debate on which Senator Ryan spoke well when he said that, when the Gutenberg press first appeared in the 15th century, there were probably people at the time who said there was no need to have something printed because it might not last, catch on or be efficient. There is little doubt that the benefits of electronic means of communication are so strong, beneficial, transparent and useful, particularly in terms of speed and cost, that there is no way an organisation should not publish its reports and other details in electronic form. The vast majority of information we receive comes in electronic form and arrives long before we receive letters or phone calls.

I criticised Bord Fáilte for not printing its report, but the Minister corrected me. I was looking for it in the wrong place. I hope the board manages to help some of the amateurs seeking its report to find it in future. It is essential that the reports be published by electronic means.

I have tabled amendments similar to that before us for some years and they are gradually being accepted. However, there is a difference between compelling and enabling and I do not seek an enabling provision. I know organisations are allowed to publish a report by electronic means. I want to compel them to ensure that a person in another part of the country or the world does not have to buy the report, request its delivery in writing or look for it and that all he or she has to do is press a button and, in the comfort of his or her home in America or Australia, obtain the details. I urge the Minister to consider this again and hope he has had an opportunity to do so since Committee Stage.