Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I move amendment No. 7a:

In page 5, subsection 9(a), line 45, after "made" to insert "or amended under section 2(6)(b), and the Minister shall cause to have published by electronic means all schemes which may from time to time be in effect".

The purpose of this amendment is to broaden the scope of the disclosure requirements for any schemes drawn up under the Bill. The existing provision requires merely that the scheme be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. This is a standard provision and it is necessary and very valuable. I entirely agree with it but it is not quite enough in this case. While it requires disclosure in a technical sense, it is a long way from requiring the publication of the information in a proper way. There will be strong public interest in the details of these schemes and the legislation should cater for this by providing for more than just the absolute minimum level of disclosure envisaged.

I make the point in respect of every Bill that passes through the House that the average person does not read Iris Oifigiúil. Still less does the average person have access to the Library in Leinster House, unlike Members of the Oireachtas. Fortunately, we now have a very easy, inexpensive way to give every member of the public access to information, namely, the Internet. There is an enormous difference between requiring that information to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and requiring that it be published on the Internet or "by electronic means", which I understand is the correct terminology. Public interest calls for the information requirement to be extended beyond the minimum level and that the details of the schemes drawn up under the Act be available immediately to anybody who cares to look for them.

I have tabled an amendment such as this in respect of almost every Bill in the past five years. When I was first elected to the House ten years ago, the Internet practically did not exist. Now its use is growing. It is so accessible, easy to use and cost-effective that it seems a shame not to publish on it on every single occasion. I urge the Minister to accept this amendment.