FOI changes more restrictive than recommended, say FG

The Government's proposed amendments of the Freedom of Information Act are more restrictive than those proposed by the group of civil servants asked to conduct the review, it was claimed today.

The Oireachtas Finance and Public Services Committee held special hearings today to hear statements from a number of members of the High Level Review Group.

The group of five department secretaries general were asked last June to review the FoI act and draw up possible changes.

Mr Richard Bruton, Fine Gael finance spokesman and a member of the committee, claimed today the statements revealed the Government had taken the group's recommendations and made them even tighter.

He also said the decision not to seek wider consultation on amendments was made by the Government rather than by the High Level group.

"The decision not to consult the Information Commissioner or other interested parties on amendments to the Freedom of Information Act was made by the Government, not by civil servants," said Mr Bruton. "The committee has failed to establish who in Government prompted the review or why it decided not to engage in more extensive consultation."

Mr Bruton accused the Government of deliberately trying to "stifle" debate on the Act.

One of the most controversial planned restrictions in the amended FoI Act is the exemption on communications between ministers and the papers produced by groups of consultants and officials advising Cabinet members.

However, the Secretary to the Government, Mr Dermot McCarthy, denied to the committee that the officials who proposed this amendment did so in order to protect their advice to ministers from being scrutinised in public.

The bulk of the proposed curtailments to the Freedom of Information Act relate to the business of Cabinet. One of the principal changes is that Cabinet documents be released after ten years, instead of after five years, from this April.

Government sources conceded last night that some, as yet undisclosed, amendments may be made to its plans to curtail the Act.

Yesterday, the Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny accused the Government of "guillotining" FoI Bill in the Seanad. The Government was displaying "supreme political arrogance and new-found aggression" on the matter, he said.

However, the Fianna Fáil Senator, Mrs Mary O'Rourke, announced this morning the Seanad debate on the Bill was being deferred for a week.

The committee also heard submissions from a number of parties, including the NUJ and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), on the Act. The Information Commissioner, Mr Kevin Murphy, is due to answer questions later this afternoon.

The ICCL's submission criticised the review groups main recommendations saying they would "have a negative and detrimental impact on the rights of citizens".

The submission also noted the review group did not provide examples of how the current system has damaged the effectiveness of government.

"The fact that in 1997 the government chose to adopt standards of best practice cannot now be used as a justification for down grading the standards afforded to citizens," the report said.and to suggest that amendments based on the report do not change the rights of ordinary citizens is misleading.