Seanad debates
Tuesday, 4 March 2003
Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed).
Like others, I am not sure that the extension from five years to ten is entirely wrong. I am sure, however, that several of the other measures introduced to broaden what is, in effect, a Government paper are fundamentally wrong. They will also be open to abuse. The notion, for example, that in future any communication between Ministers is to be considered a Government memorandum is in my view potentially extremely dangerous. Governments should act collectively. Once a decision is taken at Cabinet, we expect Government Ministers to defend it. It is part of the doctrine of collective responsibility and it is enshrined in our Constitution. None of us expect that each Minister or each official will have agreed at every point during a process or that they will have agreed everything three weeks, three months or three years before entering into Government. That is a fundamentally different issue.
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