Seanad debates
Wednesday, 12 March 2003
Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed).
The Bill states, "(aa) consists of a communication . between two or more members of the Government". Time and again during the Second Stage deliberations we made the argument that one of the things that had turned people off politics was the veil of secrecy that had enveloped decision making in government. We need to open up government, make things more open and transparent, allow people to become greater stakeholders in what is going on and shine a light into the portals of decision making. Even if there are differences of opinion on what should be done, so what? They should also be put into the public domain. No two people think alike, nor do any two Ministers or sets of advisers on every single issue. If there are differences, we should let them be exposed in order that we may show how decisions are arrived at. They come from people with divergent views but ultimately a consensus is reached, collectively, on behalf of the Government. This section is guaranteed to diminish further people's confidence in how decisions are arrived at. At a time in which we should be opening up the process it is further restricting access to information.
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