Derek McDowell (Labour)

I offer my condolences to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. He has clearly had a bad day. It started with the Garda leaking information against him and he has now launched a vicious attack on one of the major offices of State, namely, that of the Information Commissioner. I can understand why he is feeling sore, but he would do us all a favour if he kept it to himself.

Section 5 is relatively innocuous, but there are some causes for concern in the way it operates. The section seeks to provide a mechanism whereby people can withdraw applications they have made. I know from experience that some Departments and certain individuals have a difficulty working within the Act and prefer to work outside it. I do not have a complaint about that, so long as we are getting full and frank information. It is acceptable for an official to request that one withdraws a formal request for all the information on a particular subject, in return for him or her supplying one with the specific information one wants.

The same applies to certain Departments, which prefer to work outside the limiting context of parliamentary questions, such as the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Some Departments also prefer one to withdraw FOI requests and deal with them outside the scope of the Act. However, I would not like to see officials bringing pressure to bear on individuals and telling them that if they apply for information outside the scope of the Act, they will be responded to more quickly and efficiently. This will result in people feeling obliged to withdraw formal applications in circumstances where they might get a fuller picture if they left them in the system.