Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I move amendment No. 26:

In page 11, line 17, after "State" to insert "and in the opinion of the Secretary General the public interest would, on balance, be better served by refusing to grant than by granting the request".

This amendment is similar to amendment No. 25 in that it relates to the same section dealing with the deliberative process of public bodies and Government. I suggest that the amendment is perfectly reasonable. We are attempting to have inserted an additional number of words that, in respect of the deliberative process, would give the Secretary General of a Department an element of discretion in refusing requests for information or exempting entire swathes of information from being available under FOI. The way the section is drafted has the effect of creating a blanket refusal around large amounts of information currently available to the public under FOI. The amendment has the effect of reversing this to some degree. Under it, a Secretary General will be given some discretion in refusing to grant a request for reasons of public interest.