Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I second this important amendment and thank Senator Browne for moving it. It addresses a serious part of this legislation dealing with the unauthorised disclosure of confidential information. While one can understand and appreciate that the board should be able to discuss its business in a confidential manner and conduct it knowing that it does so with the cloak of confidentiality, there is the issue of the disclosure of information in the context of public health.

This raises the wider issue of whistleblowing, which has been raised several times but which this Administration has never satisfactorily approached. I do not expect that it will do so. When one looks at the size of the job given to the board and the range of issues it would be obliged to handle, the question of the unauthorised disclosure of confidential information is very important. I am also concerned about the broad nature of the meaning of the term "confidential information". Section 26(3)(a) defines it as "information that is expressed by the Executive to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description", and section 26(3)(b) adds, "proposals of a commercial nature or tenders submitted to the Executive by any person". That is fine because it is well covered by the Freedom of Information Act.

However, the definition of the term "confidential information" seems to be so broad as to mean anything. Once the executive marks a document confidential nobody will ever see it. That is not good for accountability or for the underpinning of the whole notion of transparency and accountability for which we have provided in much legislation and which only yesterday we considered in the context of the Garda Síochána Bill. I am concerned about the broad definition of the term "confidential information" in this section and I have a major concern that it will happen that information that needs to be in the public domain will never be there as a result. In this regard the amendment is useful and important.