Mary Henry (Independent)

Following Senator Mansergh's useful contribution, I am more convinced than ever that we should try to retain the section. Surely a person must type up replies to freedom of information requests. Therefore, someone must take responsibility for them. If replies are made by committee, where will it take us?

I expected the Government to accept this amendment as I could not see a problem with it, particularly in view of the fact that, with regard to section 3 of the principal Act, my new found friend, the Information Commissioner, proposes even greater openness in respect of requests. He suggests there should be "an obligation on the Minister for Finance to collect, collate and publish (within two months of the end of each calendar) relevant statistics in relation to FOI usage in the relevant year, and . an obligation on public bodies to provide the Minister with such statistics, and in such manner (including timescale) as the Minister determines, in relation to FOI usage in the relevant year."