Heated scenes are expected to take place in the Seanad this evening between the Government and members of the opposition as they debate the second stage of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003.
The Minister for Finance, Mr Charlie McCreevy, defended the Bill when he addressed the Seanad by saying the "focus of the new Bill is on the business of Government".
He said: "While Freedom of Information is important it cannot be the major determinant of how the Government conducts its business."
Mr McCreevy warned that Ireland's ability to function effectively at international level could be restricted by lack of confidence in "our ability to protect sensitive exchanges with other countries or international organisations," if the Bill was not passed.
He also said he had "no hesitation" in recommending the restriction of five years for Government records should be raised to ten years and that it would still leave Ireland with a "liberal regime".
However, Senator Brian Hayes of Fine Gael said the Amendment "shouldn't be debated in the Seanad until serious review is conducted".
He said: "It was outrageous that the Freedom of Information Bill is to be discussed in the Seanad this afternoon without a serious review being conducted into the legislation."
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) also called on the Government to withdraw the Amendment Act and to engage in public consultation.
The Irish Secretary of the NUJ, Mr Seamus Dooley, said: "This Bill is the result of a 'Yes Minister' style review carried out by a group of Secretaries General and is reflective of the Sir Humphrey Appleby's philosophy that you can have openness or government but not both at the same time."
In a statement the NUJ claimed: "[The Act] marks the return of Whitehall style secrecy to Irish government and sees the exclusion of citizens and representative groups from the consultative process".
Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) have written to the European Commission alleging that the proposed "up front fee" under the amendments to the Freedom of Information Act is an infringement of the Access to Information on the Environment Directive.
