The senior civil servants whose report was behind some of the restrictions planned for the Freedom of Information Act will be called before an Oireachtas committee.
As Opposition parties continued to criticise the Government in the Dáil over the extent of the changes to the Act, the Joint Committee of Finance and Public Service agreed yesterday to seek a meeting with the officials who examined the Act for the Government.
At a special meeting next Thursday, the committee also wants to examine working papers used by the officials, who are secretary generals of five Government Departments. In addition, the committee's chairman, Mr Seán Fleming, said it would also call the Information Commissioner, Mr Kevin Murphy, to the meeting.
It will also call the National Union of Journalists and commercial media interests.
The hearing next week will take place before the Government's Bill finishes its passage through the Seanad.
The committee heard renewed criticism of the Government's decision to curtail the Act, which went further than expected.
However, Government members of the committee defended the changes, which were introduced last Friday.
Fianna Fáil senator, Ms Mary White, said she believed people had "gone over the top in relation to Freedom of Information".
The application of the Act had been an "extreme" measure of democratisation, she said. But Fine Gael's finance spokesman, Mr Richard Bruton, said the Government's plan posed a very serious problem for the Oireachtas, because TDs and senators had very opportunity to examine the Bill before the formal debates started.
Stating that the civil servants who reviewed the Act had not consulted with any outside body, he said it was "inevitable" that the group would see "just one side of the argument".
"I believe such radical changes in our law should only be made after proper consultation," he said.
His Labour Party counterpart, Ms Joan Burton, said she was concerned that the changes proposed by the Government went "far further" than those recommended by the officials.
