THE Government has revised its Freedom of Information Bill to make it more difficult for ministers to prevent public access to information in areas such as law enforcement and defence.
The full text of the Bill is to be published today, incorporating, what Government sources described as a "significant change" from the draft text published last January.
The initial text gave ministers authority to issue certificates preventing the release of official records in specially exempted areas - law enforcement, defence, security and international relations, including Northern Ireland.
Under the revised terms of the Bill, which was approved at Cabinet last Wednesday, ministers can issue these so-called "secrecy certificates" only where the information is of sufficient seriousness and sensitivity.
This means there will be two grounds on which certificates must be justified. The matter must be in an exempt category and it must meet the additional "seriousness and sensitivity" test.
So there will be what sources called a "higher threshold" for the issuance of certificates. All such orders must be reviewed within six months by a designated group of ministers. They can be reviewed by the Taoiseach and can also be challenged in the High Court. Even where the court rules the certificate was warranted, it can still award some or all of their costs to plaintiffs.
In addition, a minister must forward a copy of the certificate to the Taoiseach and other designated ministers with a written statement of the reasons the information is considered to be in an exempt category. The minister will also be required to give the person requesting the information the following details: the provision of the Act under which the certificate was issued; the date the certificate was signed and the date on which it expires.
"It will be tougher now for a minister to get and hold a certificate," Government sources said. The sources claimed once the Bill was passed, Ireland's Freedom of Information Act would be "one of the most liberal in the world".
The Bill proposes the appointment of an information commissioner to seek out information refused to members of the public and to publish an annual report listing the number of secrecy certificates in each area of exemption. The Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy has been designated for this additional role of information commissioner, with a separate staff.
The second stage of the Bill is to be moved in the Seanad on Thursday by the Minister of State at the Office of the Tanaiste, Ms Eithne Fitzgerald. It is expected to come before the Dail early in the new year and be on the statute books by mid-1997.
The legislation would give citizens a legal right to information held by public bodies, additional to the existing right to obtain information under a court order. If a request for information was refused, there would be a right of appeal to the information commissioner.
The Act would come into force for government departments a year after being passed into law, with other public bodies coming within its scope after two years or more. But reflecting Government concern over the hepatitis C affair, it is understood the Blood Transfusion Service Board would be required to open its files to the public in 1998, at the same time as the Civil Service.
In New Zealand and Australia, where similar legislation applies, the use of ministerial certificates has declined as politicians have come to terms with the legislation.