Vol. 519 No. 3
154 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Finance the plans, if any, he has to include the Irish Red Cross Society on the list of public bodies to be covered by the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, in view of the fact the society is in receipt of substantial public funding and is a statutory voluntary body established under an Act of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13826/00]
Since 21 April 1998, when the Freedom of Information Act commenced for central Departments and related public bodies, its scope has been extended incrementally; firstly to health boards and local authorities and subsequently to voluntary hospitals and to certain publicly funded voluntary bodies providing services to people with intellectual disability.
In July 1999, the Government decided to extend the scope of the Act further over the subsequent 24 months to certain other bodies in the areas of broadcasting, social services, health, culture, environment, regulation, enterprise and education. The first phase of this extension took place on 1 May 2000 when RTE and TG4 were brought within the scope of the Act. The Irish Red Cross is not included among the list of bodies to be brought within the scope of FOI over the next 12 months. However, the inclusion of the Irish Red Cross in future extensions of the FOI Act to other public bodies will be considered in consultation with the Minister for Defence.
