Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The article stated: "Pat Rabbitte has revealed he very deliberately avoids recording all his meeting in a ministerial diary to prevent the contents being released under the Freedom of Information Act". The quote from the former Minister is as follows:

In my case it's a digital diary but I keep a parallel diary ... I don't necessarily put everything that I do into [the digital diary], very deliberately. I deal with some issues of considerable commercial sensitivity (already covered under FOI legislation) ... But yes, there is a digital diary and it has been sought under Freedom of Information (FoI) on many occasions and the whole lot has been put out there.

In the United Kingdom such diaries or private e-mail correspondence which I have tried to target in the amendment are subject to FOI legislation. In New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's e-mails were subject to FOI legislation and nothing incriminating was found. It was only when for an assembly hearing there was a subpoena to obtain all of his private e-mails that all of the dirt on him and bridgegate was found. It is clear there are such practices. Are there codes of practice or rules about using private e-mails, diaries or text messages which, if sent over the official networks for correspondence, could be subject to FOI legislation? The amendment highlights an issue which has not been addressed. It proposes to include e-mails, even if they are private, under FOI legislation. Does the Minister have proposals in that regard?