David Norris (Independent)

I am glad the Minister has taken the arguments on the previous Committee Stage into account. I support the amendment because I believe the Minister has tightened up this provision. Public importance gives a free range for prurient interest, speculation and poking around unnecessarily in people's dirty linen with no good real investigative point.

With so many lawyers around the joint, I am sure I will be told if I am wrong but I believe there is a definition in case law of public interest. It is similar to a phrase in the Constitution, alas rarely used, "the public good". If I am incorrect, there may be a case for attempting a definition of public interest in the Bill. Public interest has been satisfactorily defined by the operation of case law.