Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Freedom of Information Act 2014 provides a very broad definition of public bodies at Section 6(1) and further provides that all new public bodies comprehended by this definition will automatically come under freedom of information (FOI) legislation, unless specifically exempted by order. This reversed the system under previous legislation whereby new bodies would have to be brought into the scope of the legislation by order. The 2014 Act extended the remit of the legislation, bringing the overall total to some 600 bodies comprehended by the Act.

Since the first introduction of FOI in 1997, Government policy has been that commercial state bodies should not, in general, be subject to Freedom of Information requirements, in view of their commercial role, mandate and responsibilities. This is on the basis that an uneven competitive playing field would be created in circumstances that commercial state bodies operating in a competitive market were subject to Freedom of Information but their privately-owned market competitors were not, and could lead to a situation where FOI requests could be used to access information to disadvantage and erode the competitive position of the commercial State Body in the marketplace. Such a move 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.

While the mechanisms for designating FOI Bodies have been considered in the context of the Review of the Freedom of Information Act which is due to report shortly, it is not anticipated that this will affect the position regarding commercial state agencies, as set out above.