Seanad debates

Tuesday, 4 March 2003

Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed).

 

The Bill was described to me by a leading bureaucrat as "very effective but quite shameless" in terms of what it does. What is proposed is impenetrable. In 1998 when the original Act was going through this House I was appalled by, and opposed to the idea that Cabinet papers would be released after five years. It was wrong and people got carried away with their own enthusiasm at the time. I believe that some people have taken advantage of that in order to support a lazy approach to things. Provided that the person seeking information is protected, there is no reason why a scale of charges could not be introduced to prevent abuse. I was prepared to look at the Bill in regard to those two issues. When I heard that these matters were being discussed I looked back at the Act some weeks ago and came to the conclusion that it made sense to discuss these matters and have some approach to dealing with them but that is where it begins and ends.

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