Madam, - Among the objectionable proposed amendments to the Freedom of Information Act 1997 is that introducing a fee for applying for non-personal records.
As a result, businesses, journalists and non-profit organisations will be discouraged from exercising their rights under the Act as it stands.
In addition, applicants will have to pay, as is now the case, €20.95 an hour for research/retrieval and copying at 4 cent a sheet. Failure to pay any fees on any request will debar you from making others until the charge is paid.
The Dublin Freelance Branch of the National Union of Journalists, which represents close to 600 self-employed journalists, many of whom will not be able to exercise their rights if a fee is introduced, has unanimously condemned the proposed changes to the Act, and the attempts to railroad them through the Oireachtas.
In particular, we believe the proposed fee represents not only an infringement on the ability of freelance journalists to work, but is also, in effect, a stealth-tax on the right of freelance journalists to work in the first place. - Yours etc.,
DAVID ROE, Chairman, Dublin Freelance Branch, NUJ, Dublin 2.
Madam, - The proposed restrictions on the Freedom of Information Act are an extremely retrograde step. I would like to think that we, as a society, have moved on from the dark ages and the censorship era.
When this important piece of legislation was introduced, it was in my view a defining moment in the democratisation of the public function. It provided every citizen, not just journalists or trade unionists, with a means to hold government and the public sector accountable for their actions.
I have to ask: How can the Government be serious in relation to its commitment to social and economic partnership when the rights of citizens are going to be trampled upon in such an arrogant fashion? - Yours, etc.,
GERRY WILSON, Vice President, Prison Officers' Association, Dublin 2.
Madam, - A report in your edition of March 6th highlighted a Government edict requiring phone companies operating in Ireland to retain telephone call records of Irish citizens for three years. In the very same issue the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, defended the Government's intention to alter the Freedom of Information Act so as to impinge on the right of those very same citizens to access information, which is a matter of public record for 10 years.
Do I detect a dichotomy? - Yours, etc.,
EDWARD D. RAFFERTY, Castlebridge, Co Wexford.