Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

We discussed this matter in great detail on Committee Stage. Iris Oifigiúil seems to be a redundant publication as far as I can see. No one in the House has a copy of it or knows where to obtain it. It used to be circulated some years ago but it is now the last place someone who wanted to find an information officer would look. The simplest way to do so is through the telephone directories. I looked up some of the county councils and health boards and some of them listed their FOI officer, which is a good way of getting information across. If one wants to find out, one rings the organisation in question and asks who the information officer is.

When I was chairman of the Western Health Board, it took the FOI legislation seriously. A senior programme manager was assigned to the area of freedom of information who reported each year to the local authority on the progress and developments of the activities of the Act as it applied to the health board. The same applies to most local authorities. The Bill is adequate in this regard. Therefore, the amendment should not be pressed. Nearly every organisation has a website and lists its FOI officer. The information is therefore easiest to obtain from the organisations themselves. The information needs to be listed in an active medium such as websites or telephone directories rather than in Iris Oifigiúil, which people do not know where to find.