19 Márta 2013, 15:31
The Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform will resume its hearings on the General Scheme of the Freedom of Information Bill 2012 when it meets with meets with Ed Hammond of Britain’s Centre for Public Scrutiny tomorrow Wednesday, 20th March, 2013.
Under the General Scheme of the Bill, Freedom of Information will be extended to a number of high-profile public bodies previously entirely outside of the scope of the Act including:-
• An Garda Síochána for its administrative records subject to security exemptions
• Public financial bodies, including NTMA, NAMA, NPRF, and the NDFA who will all be brought within the jurisdiction of the Act for the first time.
Other features of the proposed bill include:-
• Reversing the very wide definition of Government introduced in the 2003 amending legislation;
• Curtailing the time period within which Government records cannot generally be considered for release from 10 years to 5 years; and
• Prioritising the reduction of levels of internal review and appeal fees for non-personal requests from €75 and €150 to €30 and €50 respectively.
Ciarán Lynch, TD, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, said:
“The Bill plans to reform and extend Freedom of Information legislation and also to extend the Information Commissioner’s jurisdiction to all public bodies. If we are to have greater transparency and accountability in our public and political system, it is important that we have the necessary legislation in place to allow greater access to official information from our public and administrative bodies.
“Tomorrow, we will conclude our hearings on the General Scheme of the Freedom of Information Bill 2012 when we meet with Ed Hammond of Britain’s Centre for Public Scrutiny. The Centre for Public Scrutiny is a charity whose principal focus is on scrutiny, accountability and good governance, both in the public sector and amongst those people and organisations who deliver publicly-funded services. This will give the Committee an international perspective on standards and trends.
“We will be very interested in getting that organisation’s perspective on Freedom of Information legislation in general and specifically its views on the proposed Bill in this jurisdiction, particularly the changes being envisaged and how the proposed legislation will impact on the current Freedom of Information regime. Committee members will also have an opportunity to raise any issues or concerns they may have on the subject.”
This meeting will start in Committee Room 1, Leinster House at 2pm on Wednesday, 20th March 2013.
Committee proceedings can be followed live at: http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/watchlisten/
For further information please contact:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551
Committee Membership
Deputies
Richard Boyd-Barrett, People Before Profit
Michael Creed, Fine Gael
Pearse Doherty, Sinn Fein
Stephen Donnelly, Independent
Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil
Sean Fleming, Fianna Fáil
Simon Harris, Fine Gael
Joe Higgins, Socialist Party
Heather Humphreys, Fine Gael
Kevin Humphreys, Labour Party
Peter Mathews, Fine Gael
Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein
Ciarán Lynch, Labour Party (Chairman)
Michael McGrath, Fianna Fáil
Dara Murphy, Fine Gael
Kieran O’Donnell, Fine Gael
Aodhán O Ríordáin, Labour
Arthur Spring, Labour Party
Brian Stanley, Sinn Féin
Billy Timmins, Fine Gael
Liam Twomey, Fine Gael
Senators
Sean D Barrett
Thomas Byrne
Paul Coghlan
Michael D’Arcy
Aideen Hayden
Tom Sheahan