Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The proposed amendment seeks to remove a number of the purposes under which rules, procedures and standards may be prescribed by the Minister regarding data management. I will address each of the purposes in turn. First, the Senator proposes to remove the following purpose, "to promote increased sharing of information between public bodies in accordance with this Act and any other enactment providing for such sharing of information". It is not the intent of this Bill to promote the sharing of information as an end in itself. It is merely the means to achieving a modern and safe infrastructure for the delivery of public services. As such, I accept this part of the amendment.

The Senator also proposes to remove the following purpose, "(c) to ensure a consistent approach to the management of information by public bodies so as to facilitate the exchange of information between them". With the sharing of data between public bodies for the delivery of public services, it is essential that such sharing is performed in a consistent and secure manner. This provision allows the Minister to ensure that public bodies follow best practice when undertaking such sharing. The removal of this purpose would unintentionally limit the ability of the Minister to ensure that sharing is performed in a safe and reliable manner and, as such, I cannot accept this part of the amendment.

Lastly, the Senator proposed to remove the following purpose:

(d) to increase the usefulness of information held by public bodies for the purposes of—(i) performing their functions,

(ii) modernising and developing public services,

(iii) evaluating the effectiveness of services provided by public bodies, and

(iv) evaluating the effectiveness of expenditure by public bodies;

This purpose is limited by a set of sub-purposes where it is clear there is a benefit to citizens and businesses. It behoves the Government to increase the usefulness of data to continue to improve and modernise our public services. As such I cannot accept this part of the amendment.

As I have said, I would be willing to remove section 64(2)(b) but unfortunately, for the reasons I have given, I cannot accept the amendments that propose removing other parts of section 64(2). If the Senator will withdraw the amendment, I will propose an amendment on Committee Stage in the Dáil to remove section 64(2)(b), ensuring the most contentious word, that is, "promote", is removed from the Bill.