NNI and NUJ: The National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) has called on the Government to defer its Freedom of Information Bill until the autumn to allow further debate on amending the Freedom of Information Act.
The NNI's co-ordinating director, Mr Frank M. Cullen, told the committee that a "deliberative process now, rather than proceeding immediately with the Bill, would allow the proposed amendments to be considered in the light of international standards and principles." He said the NNI would be pleased to contribute in a constructive manner to such a process, given its members' considerable experience of the operation of the Act to date.
Mr Cullen said that freedom of information legislation was inevitably judged by the breadth and scope of the exemptions provided for. "The broader the exemptions the weaker the Act. Under the Bill, the exemptions currently provided for in the Principal Act will be extended and strengthened and the Act weakened."
Some exemptions, such as those relating to Northern Ireland and international relations, which were currently in the category of "discretionary" exemptions - information which "may" be refused - would become mandatory. Since there was already a discretion to refuse them in the public interest, the justification for making them mandatory was not clear and ought to be tested.
The editor of the Irish Daily Star, Mr Gerard Colleran, said he was not sure there was a point in the hearings. "The people who decide on this matter, to curtail the flow of information to the sovereign people of this country, are not even here. The attack on freedom of information is, apparently, a done deal. It is going through like an express train."
He referred to the absence of the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, and his Minister of State, Mr Tom Parlon, in Cheltenham. Mr Colleran said he thought that the hearing was "a charade."
Mr Michael Finneran (FF) said Mr McCreevy would be at the debate on the Bill's later stages.
The managing director and editor-in-chief of the Sunday Tribune, Mr Jim Farrelly, said the NNI regarded the committee in high esteem and he thought it was contributing largely to the discussions about what was going to happen to the Act.
Later, Mr Colleran took exception to a remark by Fianna Fáil TD Mr Conor Lenihan, saying he was being "personal and scurrilous" in asserting that he was suffering from "intellectual dyslexia" because of his observation about the committee's hearing.
Mr Colleran said he was at the meeting on an invitation and did not expect personal abuse. Mr Lenihan said he would withdraw the remark if Mr Colleran was offended by it, adding that Mr Colleran should withdraw his remarks about Mr McCreevy and Mr Parlon.
The National Union of Journalists opposed the increase in the exemption for Cabinet-related records under the Freedom of Information Act from five to 10 years, its Irish secretary, Mr Séamus Dooley, told the committee.
Mr Dooley said section 19 allowed the Cabinet to release material after five years. "It does not make it mandatory and section 19 must not be viewed in isolation of the other sections of this Act, such as those protecting sensitive matters about Northern Ireland."
Mr Dooley said the NUJ shared the Information Commissioner's view that existing powers whereby government departments could disregard "frivolous or vexatious" requests were adequate.
The committee resumes its hearings next Wednesday.
