Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The State, semi-State, State-sponsored and statutory bodies under the aegis of my Department that are not subject to the Freedom of Information Acts are the Civil Defence Board, Coiste an Asgard and the Irish Red Cross Society. Proposals for extending FOI are being developed at present in the Department of Finance with a view to extending FOI to other appropriate bodies by the end of 2005. The question of extending FOI to the Civil Defence Board and Coiste an Asgard is being considered in this context. It is not proposed to apply the Act to the Irish Red Cross Society. The society is a voluntary autonomous body and, having regard to that, to its international character and to the type of work that it does, it is not considered to be an appropriate entity for inclusion under the Act.