Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 160: To ask the Minister for Finance if, in view of the fact that Anglo Irish Bank has been nationalised, the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 1997 in respect of the public interest override extends to this bank in view of the fact that it is completely owned by the State and should be one of the institutions in which the FOI legislation is operational; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13191/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As a matter of policy, the Freedom of Information Act has not been extended to commercial State bodies for reasons associated with the need for such bodies to compete commercially. Commercial State bodies operate in a different environment to non-commercial State bodies. To bring a commercial State body under the Freedom of Information Act while other companies in the same sector remain excluded could place such a body at a significant commercial and competitive disadvantage. Therefore as Anglo Irish Bank is a commercial State body there are currently no proposals to extend the Freedom of Information Act to the bank.