Vol. 495 No. 2
99 Ms. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has to negotiate agreement with the European Union along the lines of that already agreed with Sweden in order to facilitate the provision of information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19512/98]
I take it that the Deputy is referring to the unilateral declaration on open government by Sweden on its accession to the EU, which was incorporated into the final document of the EU enlargement conference. The position is that access to information under Swedish law dates back to 1766. Clearly their legislation could not have anticipated EU arrangements. Accordingly, this declaration was unilaterally entered into by Sweden on its accession to the EU in 1994 with a view to preserving their existing statutory rights.
The situation in this country is somewhat different. As the Deputy will appreciate, our EU membership precedes freedom of information by decades. Accordingly, when developing our freedom of information legislation we were well positioned to consider and address EU arrangements.
Following from this, section 24 of our Freedom of Information Act permits the refusal of records where their disclosure could be expected to adversely affect the international relations of the State. Such records are specified as including, where appropriate, information communicated in confidence from the EU or its subsidiaries.
The intention of the provision is to uphold our international obligations while at the same time enabling maximum access to relevant records. Against this background, a particular agreement with the EU relating to our Freedom of Information Act would not appear warranted.
However, I appreciate the point raised by the Deputy. I will keep under review the operation of provisions referred to so as to ensure that they are applied consistent with the principles and purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.
