Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To allay the fears of Senator Warfield that there could be political influence over the early release of documents, I draw his attention to section 8(4) of the principal Act, which prevents the making available to the public of records which "would or might cause distress or danger to living persons on the ground that they contain information about individuals, or would or might be likely to lead to an action for damages for defamation". That might be of interest to the Senator.

I thank Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell for her comments. I appreciate her concerns and the very important issues she raised. However, those issues are within the remit of the Department of Education and Skills, which is working towards dealing with them. It is not a matter to be dealt with in the Bill.