THE Government has assured public service trade union leaders that civil servants will have qualified privilege under the new Freedom of Information Bill.
This means they will be protected from legal action for comments made "in good faith" during the course of their official duties. The Bill is due to be signed by the President, Mrs Robinson, on Monday.
The general secretary of the Public Service Executive Union, Mr Dan Murphy, has told delegates to the annual conference in Waterford that the union will be looking for commitments from management that Civil Service departments would agree to underwrite the defence of civil servants subjected to legal action because of remarks they make.
Yesterday he said the union's main reservation about the Freedom of Information Bill had been "the legal exposure of members in respect of comments concerning citizens made on files in the course of their work".
He added: "I am now happy to be able to tell conference that legal advice provided by the Attorney General to the official [management] side . . . indicates that qualified privilege would apply to comments made by public officials in the course of their duties acting in good faith.
"This defence can only be defeated by a plaintiff proving malice. In this context, malice means the public official was not acting in the course of his or her duties, and/or would have done so with improper or ulterior motive."