Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I do not accept the amendment. Section 13 of the Bill provides that requests under section 7 of the 1997 Act shall be refused if a record has been certified by a Secretary General as being part of an ongoing deliberative process. It is not necessary to go beyond this. It is open to a Secretary General to certify a record up to the point at which a decision is taken on whether to grant an information request. It is not an option to certify a record after an application is received. That is clear.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.