Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

The provisions in section 13 will achieve a high degree of confidence that records related to ongoing deliberations, particularly those within Departments of State, will be protected. While such deliberations are ongoing, but only to that extent, the Government is satisfied that the public interest favours protection. Once deliberations have concluded, the directives related to those deliberations would fall to be released.

There are other amendments to this section on Secretaries General and certification. The question of whether the deliberative process is ended can be difficult. The Government has decided that more certainty is needed in this area in order that records relating to ongoing deliberations of Departments will not be released into the public domain prematurely in such a way as to undermine the process of Government.

Under the provisions of the Bill, the Secretary General of a Department will decide whether the deliberative process is still underway or has concluded. Where he or she decides the deliberative process is ongoing, the secretary general will issue a certificate and the relevant records will not be released. At the end of the deliberative process, the Secretary General will revoke the certificate and the records will be released. This provision only applies to Government Departments – which comprise 17 public bodies out of a total of 370 covered by the FOI Act.

In issuing certificates, the Secretaries General will need to be fully satisfied that the deliberative process is clearly ongoing. Secretaries General are in charge of complex organisations and we can rely on them to discharge this function in a responsible manner. In addition, the FOI central policy users in my Department will be given detailed, practical advice as to what procedure should be put in place. In the past, in respect of matters not related to the Department of Finance, deciding officers in some Departments occasionally issued documentation when other Departments did not because they regarded the deliberative process as ongoing.

There is nothing sinister in giving the power to a Secretary General to decide when the deliberative process is finally concluded. It can be a matter of interpretation as to when it is concluded, but to suggest that Secretaries General will start issuing certificates willy-nilly, stating that the deliberative process is not concluded and keep it going for years, is ridiculous. Such behaviour would not befit any Secretary General I have ever known. That will not happen. It is reasonable for a Secretary General to decide the matter.