Seanad debates

Tuesday, 4 March 2003

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

 

The Bill has been introduced by the Minister for Finance. I do not believe this is the type of legislation he would want to introduce. We all recollect his earlier political career as a backbench Government and Opposition Deputy in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he believed in calling a spade a spade. Now he is being forced, I suspect by the Taoiseach, to stick the spade deep into the soil. Who will benefit most from this legislation and pulling down the shutters on public information? The greatest beneficiary will be the Taoiseach, the person who did most to hoodwink the electorate in the long run-up to the general election last May. If politics is only a game, he succeeded in doing a marvelous job. He now seems to want to draw a curtain on that phase of his political career and move on, without letting the public reflect on what was done. I see no other reason this legislation should be introduced now.

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