Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On 22 October, Daniel McConnell, the political editor of the Irish Examiner, wrote an excellent piece about how general data protection regulation, GDPR, commercial sensitivity and various other excuses are being used to deny members of the press and Members of the Oireachtas access to information. This is something that has concerned me for some time. For example, I put in a freedom of information request recently and I sought information regarding the tender for consultancy for the Department of Transport in the area of search and rescue – the Irish Coast Guard contract. I asked for the results of the tender and the names and qualifications of the committee that assessed it. One might ask why I would want the names and qualifications. It is a well-established fact in this House that there is no aviation expertise in the Department of Transport. So who advised on the five tenders that were submitted as to which one would be the ideal one for the Department?

It is simply not good enough that the Department hides behind such things as the need to preserve confidentiality with regard to the subject matter, circumstances and communications with the following reasons: the release of records would impair future decisions; premature release could contaminate the decisions-making process; and premature release of records would impair the integrity and viability of the decision making. The decision was made, so what is the problem with telling us who helped to make it?

This is constantly happening in this House. We are all here to ensure that our taxpayers, including ourselves, get the best value for money. When people start hiding behind GDPR, other pieces of commercial sensitivity and nonsense such as that, they are stopping us from doing our job. Unless we stand up and put a stop to this, it will get to the stage where we will be just merely filling the furniture in this House and the Lower House. It has to stop. It behoves all of us to get behind this and put an end to it once and for all.