THE long-awaited Freedom of Information Bill will become law in the lifetime of this Government, according to the Minister of State who proposed the legislation, Ms Eithne Fitzgerald.
Promising that the passage of the Bill, published yesterday, will be a "priority for Government", she also confirmed that it will not, however, come into effect for a year after passage through the Oireachtas.
The 12-month time lapse, strongly criticised by the Opposition, is to allow Departments and public bodies time to prepare for the "new climate of openness" and reversal in the "culture of secrecy" predicted by the Government. The debate on the Bill begins in the Seanad on Thursday.
Under the new law, every citizen will have a legal right to gain access to files and information held by public bodies and to make corrections. The legislation will apply to government departments, state bodies, local authorities and health boards as well as semi-state organisations and institutions largely funded by the Exchequer.
It reverses the presumption of secrecy in the Official Secrets Act and replaces it with the legal presumption that the public has a right to know.
Exemptions have been built into the legislation, however so that information in "sensitive areas" of defence, security, law enforcement or international relations can be withheld "where disclosure could give rise to harm
Files and information can be denied also in the interests of the individual's privacy.
Speaking at the publication of what she termed this "powerful and wide-ranging Bill", Ms Fitzgerald said that people could have access to Garda files on them unless such information would breach the security of the State.
Pensioners and unemployed people will be able to read their welfare files while taxpayers can gain access to their tax records. Patients can procure their hospital records and homeless persons will be able to discover where they stand on the housing list.
Officials found guilty of obstructing information will face a £1,500 penalty or six months in jail.
The provisions will also establish an office of Information Commissioner with powers of appeal and investigation. This job is to be filled by the Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy, but he will retain his current position while undertaking the role of guardian of the new rights contained in the Bill.
The office of the Information Commissioner is to be separate and independent, with its own staff. He will be empowered to issue binding rulings and to overturn decision by government departments or public bodies to refuse a request for information. The proposals will also allow the Commissioner to examine all the documents in a case and to examine witnesses.
"The Bill ushers in a new relationship between citizens and the State, between the ordinary public and the public services they use. Because information is power, it will transfer power to ordinary people from those behind closed doors," Ms Fitzgerald said.
However, the Opposition were critical of elements of the new proposals. Fianna Fail's spokesman on equality and law reform, Dr Michael Woods, said there were excessive exclusions and exemptions. He accused the Government of cynicism in the timing of the Bill's release. Suggesting "openness" at a time when the Government was under fire over the Lowry affair was a ploy to deflect attention, he said.
Meanwhile, the Progressive Democrats spokeswoman, Ms Helen Keogh, said she welcomed the Bill's publication but asked why the provisions did not come into effect for a year following enactment of the legislation.