Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

It is nothing short of an abuse of power by the Government. It is an abuse of power because it attempts to roll back on a right given to the people by an elected Government and does so without a mandate. Where in An Agreed Programme for Government was there a proposal to roll back on the Freedom of Information Act? The answer is nowhere. Out it comes at a few short days' notice supposedly on a recommendation from senior civil servants in order to roll back on a very important right and a basic modernisation of our democracy achieved in 1997.

Thanks to the poodles, the Progressive Democrats, the Government is using a majority in this and in the other House to roll back radical legislation which made a fundamental change in the relationship between public service, Government and the public which the Government does not like one little bit. Why does it not like it? The answer is that the public gets a look-in. What else does the Government not like? It does not like accountability one little bit. It wants to be able to make decisions in secret, behind closed doors. It does not want anybody to know what led to various decisions or how much is being spent on Government decisions. It does not want political embarrassment, just spin. It wants to be able to control its message because it thinks we are stupid. It thinks the people are stupid but in its arrogance it will learn a lesson.