Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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329. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to reconsider the position of his Department in respect of releasing to the public, information on the pension payments of individual former taoisigh and Ministers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15070/20]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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This question concerns two separate, but related, issues, both of which concern the balance between on the one hand the goal of transparency in public administration, and personal privacy rights on the other.

Firstly, there is the routine publication of individualised information relating to pension payments. Consideration was given to this practice at the time of the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation and it was decided that, on balance and having sought legal advice, it should be discontinued.

Secondly, the Information Commissioner has recently confirmed that pension payments must be treated in the same way as other remuneration to public servants for FOI purposes. Since as early as 2002, the Commissioner’s Office has taken the view that while general information, such as the salary scale that applies to a position, can be released under FOI, the precise amount paid to a named individual in a given year is exempt as personal information.

My Department is committed to ensuring transparency to the maximum degree permitted by law. While individualised figures can no longer be published or provided, detailed information such as the aggregate amounts paid to various categories, methods of calculation, and other details are available and allow for thorough scrutiny of my Department’s administration of the relevant schemes.