Mary Henry (Independent)

While I have never worked in a Department, from what I have heard the information officer is not necessarily the person who will write the reply. Based on what Senator Mansergh said, the work is delegated to different people. It is great to be able to find out who is dealing with a specific request.

It is not so long since civil servants were not allowed to give their names. I remember phoning a Department and asking for the person's name so that I could phone her back. When she told me she was not allowed give her name I asked how many people worked there and was told there was only one other person, who was called Miriam. When I rang back I had to ask for the person who was not Miriam. Based on what has been said by Senator Mansergh and Senator O'Toole, quite rightly one person in the Department is the expert on giving information on one subject. Simply getting the name of the freedom of information officer does not mean getting the name of the person who dealt with the case, because there is obviously considerable delegation.