Seanad debates
Thursday, 20 March 2003
Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages.
There are several other provisions in the section which we also find offensive, some of which have drawn the wrath and comment of the Information Commissioner. One deals with the definition of "Government". The high level review group which tabled its report before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service last week made clear that "Government" should be defined as tightly as possible, and that the Bill should protect only those communications, whether correspondence or memos between Ministers, which led directly to Cabinet debate and were related directly to Cabinet decisions. Clearly, however, the Government has gone much further in drawing up its provisions. It has redefined "Government" to include debate between civil servants, between civil servants and policy advisers, people outside and committees of people outside. The Bill puts all of these groups on an equal footing with the Cabinet. This extends the principle of collective responsibility far beyond the intentions of those who drew up the document in the first instance, something we simply cannot accept.
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