Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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22. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will extend the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 to cover the strategic operations of An Garda Síochána; if he is aware that comparable freedom of information legislation in other jurisdictions permits queries on police force operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40601/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Programme for Government contained a commitment to extend Freedom of Information (FOI) to the administrative side of An Garda Síochána, subject to security exceptions.  The Government has honoured that commitment by providing that Freedom of Information Act should apply to the force's administrative records relating to human resources, finance and procurement matters.  Applying FOI to An Garda Síochána in this manner represents a very significant extension of FOI.  It is a step that I was determined to take since coming into office and has been widely welcomed. 

The Government has no plans to extend FOI to cover what the Deputy's question terms the strategic operations of An Garda Síochána.  The Deputy will be aware that, in contrast to the position in many other European countries, An Garda Síochána constitutes the State's security and intelligence service to which any application of FOI would not be appropriate on grounds of national security.  It is also important to note that, I am aware from the research carried out by my Department, the application of FOI to police forces in other jurisdictions is, in practice, subject to significant exemptions and restrictions. 

In the course of drafting the FOI Act, in consultation with the Minister for Justice, I gave extensive consideration to meeting both requirements reflected in the Programme for Government commitment that is making administrative records available under FOI consistent with the safeguarding of sensitive policing and security functions of An Garda Siochana.  In this regard, I concluded that certain administrative records could contain information related to sensitive security matters the disclosure of which could compromise priority operations and the safety and security of Garda personnel.  For that reason, specific exemptions are included in the FOI Act, for records relating to, for example, the Emergency Response Unit, the Special Detective Unit and the Criminal Assets Bureau.

It is, of course, the case that significant information relating to the strategy and priorities of An Garda Síochána is made available as a matter of course outside of FOI by the Garda authorities themselves and the website and by the Minister for Justice, for example in responding to Parliamentary Questions.