Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. I welcome the Minister to the House once again. He has brought forward much legislation, most of it to improve the situation with regard to transparency, open government and the reform of our institutions, which I welcome. I believe the country will benefit from this and the Minister will have a legacy therefrom.

Fianna Fáil supports the Freedom of Information Bill but there has been much spin from Government along the lines that somehow freedom of information, FOI, is being restored. FOI has never been stopped. Some 18,000 FOI requests are made annually and it is difficult to know what extra-----