Question:
148 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Finance when he will sign the necessary order to bring FÁS under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997. [3971/01]
Written Answers. - Freedom of Information.
Under section 3 of the Act, where the Minister proposes to make a regulation extending the remit of the Act to additional public bodies, "he or she shall cause a draft of the regulations to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House". I intend that regulations extending the remit of the Freedom of Information Act to a range of State bodies, including FÁS, will be laid before the Oireachtas in draft form very shortly, with a view to extending the Act to these bodies within a matter of weeks. The Government will continue the programme of extensions of the Act thereafter, focusing on the third level education sector in the Autumn. Consultations are also under way with a view to identifying further bodies to which the Act should be extended.