The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service has voted to support Ministers in keeping dozens of non-disclosure clauses contained in recent legislation outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act.
Fianna Fáil members, who hold the majority on the committee, yesterday voted to reject recommendations from the Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly that 48 specific non-disclosure provisions should be included in the third schedule to the Freedom of Information Act.
Non-disclosure clauses are effectively provisions contained in Acts of the Oireachtas which restrict the right of the public to access information on issues covered by the legislation under Freedom of Information.
The finance committee is obliged to review periodically the provisions not listed in the third schedule. Inclusion in the schedule would mean that public bodies could not automatically reject an application for information.
Among the non-disclosures clauses introduced by the Government in recent years was Section 53 of the Education Act, 1998, which prevents the release of information that could facilitate the compilation of school league tables.
Opposition deputies yesterday maintained that Fianna Fáil members of the committee had originally indicated at a meeting in early July that they would accept the recommendations of the Information Commissioner in relation to a number of non-disclosure clauses but that they had later reversed their position on foot of pressure from Ministers.
When the committee considered a second tranche of non-disclosure clauses last week, Fianna Fáil members opposed the Information Commissioner's proposal and supported the position of Ministers that the provisions should remain outside of the scope of FOI.
Fine Gael's Paul McGrath said that "a missile had gone out from Ministers" to the Fianna Fáil members for sleeping on the job.
He said that the Ministers considered that the role of Fianna Fáil members was to echo their voices in the committee.
Fianna Fáil deputy Ned O'Keeffe said that when his party members had signalled that they would accept the Information Commissioner's recom- mendations, they "had made an error of judgment to be straight about it".
Fianna Fáil Senator Martin Mansergh said he had not been at the meeting in early July but that he would have opposed "socially regressive measures" to allow the creation of school league tables.
Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and Independent members voted to back the Information Commissioner's proposals.
