Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Renua Ireland)
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66. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will address a matter (details supplied) with regard to the Freedom of Information Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32353/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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It has been long-standing Government policy that, in general, commercial state bodies should not be subject to FOI requirements. The rationale for this approach is the risk of the uneven competitive market environment that would be created in circumstances where commercial state bodies operating in a competitive market were subject to FOI but their privately-owned market competitors were not. This would be expected to have an adverse impact on the commercial position of the state body in question, which would not be in the public interest or consistent with the need to safeguard the State's economic and financial interests.

Substantial information is, in any event, available on the activities of these commercial companies reflecting their obligations under company law, the information they provide to Government Departments and relevant sectoral regulators which is available for release under FOI or otherwise.

While the FOI Bill was progressing through the Oireachtas, I came to the view, however, having consulted with my Government colleagues, that the rationale for excluding commercial state bodies generally from FOI, as set out above, did not apply to the same extent to certain State Companies which operate in a monopoly market. On that basis, I made amendments to the FOI Bill to provide that Irish Rail and the energy network businesses of ESB Networks, Gas Networks Ireland and EirGrid would be subject to FOI.  Those amendments were accepted and provision was made for FOI to apply to those companies under the FOI Act 2014.  FOI already applied to Irish Water on the same basis under the 1997 Act and continues to apply.

As the energy network companies and Irish Rail received significantly less advance notice that they were to be made subject to FOI than other bodies who were being made subject to FOI for the first time under the 2014 Act, I agreed that the maximum lead-in time provided for under the Act could be allowed in respect of these bodies to allow them sufficient time to make the necessary administrative arrangements required. I have, therefore, provided by Ministerial Order that FOI will apply to these companies with effect from 14 October 2015.