Sir, – Last week The Irish Times reported that the KPMG Actuarial Review on the Social Insurance Fund was “an unpublished report commissioned by the Government, which has been seen by The Irish Times” (Front Page, September 12th). The following day the review was referred to as “the leaked actuarial review” (Cantillon, September 13th).
In fact this review was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on August 24th, 2012. Once documents are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas they are public documents. Documents are deemed to have been laid before the Oireachtas upon delivery of copies of the documents to the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. Once a document has been laid, no member of the public who requests a copy of that document from a department, agency or individual, can have their request denied on grounds of exclusivity or confidentiality. Information can be obtained from the Oireachtas librarian as to whether or not a particular document has been laid. The procedures for laying documents are there to ensure openness and transparency in the manner in which documents that are of public interest come into the public domain. No one had exclusive rights to the KPMG Review once it had been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The Irish Times reported that it had exclusive sight of the review. There was no need for such a cloak and dagger approach. The Irish Times was as entitled to a copy of the review as any member of the public because the review was a public document. – Yours, etc,