I oppose this section. To do so might appear strange, particularly in light of the fact that section 1 is the definition section and provides the Title to the Bill. The latter is entirely incorrect. While the Bill is called the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003, it contains little that applies to freedom of information and represents an emasculation of the principle of freedom of information contained in the 1997 legislation. In that regard, the explanation of the Bill is incorrect. This legislation should be more correctly termed the "Freedom from Information" Bill.
The Bill was debated at length on Second Stage. A great deal of media commentary has been generated by Government's extraordinary action to bring forward this outrageous legislation. It does not surprise me that it has generated such heat. At its heart, the Bill represents an abuse of power and rolls back a right that was given to the people in 1997 by a Government clearly mandated to formulate the statutory right of freedom of information as part of our democracy. In undermining the fundamental principle of freedom of information, the Government is undermining a foundation stone of our democracy and rolling back a core principle of accountability in public decision-making. This represents one of the most extraordinary elements of the Bill. The Progressive Democrats campaigned for a mandate to keep the Government honest, clean, and, I presume, open. It is extraordinary to observe the manner in which the Progressive Democrats are rolling back a fundamental principle of openness after less than a year in office.
At its heart, the Freedom of Information Act 1997 was about ensuring accountability to the public for what is done in its name. It is a fundamental abuse of power to in any way dilute the principle of accountability that is so strongly established in the Freedom of Information Act. One can only assume that the primary objective of the Government, as evidenced by this Bill, is to roll back the principle of accountability. What does this say about a Government that does not want accountability, openness in how it reaches its decisions or the ability of the public to know, through the media or public representatives, how it makes decisions? Freedom of information has become an embarrassment to a Government that lied to the people during the election and continues to do so. It signals a Government that is determined to control information by spin and leaks. It is the mark of a Government that wants the people to know only what it wants them to know; it is not the mark of a democratic government.
This Bill represents an early landmark in the lifetime of the Government. It is symbolic of an arrogant Government that has allowed power to go to its head and thinks it can ride roughshod over the fundamental and basic rights of the citizens who elected it. I hope the day will soon come when the Government will rue bringing forward this legislation.
The public realises what is happening. It realises it has one of the most right wing and arrogant Governments this country has ever seen. It is also one of the most contemptuous in terms of how it treats not only the Houses of the Oireachtas but also the public. This is personified in the way the Minister for Finance and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon, who have a duty to be in the House today, have acted in a high-handed and contemptuous manner and gone to watch horse racing in the adjoining state. What could be more insulting to this House and the people than to have two Ministers, duly elected and appointed, act in such a cavalier and contemptuous way towards the public interest and the public good?
The public interest is not at the heart of what the Government does. Defining and upholding the public interest were at the heart of the 1997 legislation. At the time it was a radical inclusion to provide for a public interest override in the legislation. The secrecy of decisions by State agencies and the institutions of State and the public's right to know were guaranteed by what was called "the public interest". That created a fundamental principle in the statute which is being diluted and undermined by this amending legislation.
That is the reason we oppose the section. The vast majority of sections in the Bill will be opposed today. This is not a freedom of information Bill but a freedom from information Bill. It is indicative of a Government which wishes to wrap itself in a blanket of secrecy and prevent the public, through the media and public representatives, from knowing how it makes decisions. The Government is obsessed with controlling information on how it makes its decisions. It wants to make them behind closed doors and does not want anybody to know how they were made. It wants to present them through its 81 spin doctors in a controlled, leaked fashion and in such a way that it can determine public reaction and opinion. In that regard, it is wrong.
As we said on Second Stage, it is our objective to oppose the Bill section by section and the amendments brought before us.
