Senior Government backbenchers, who are set to support moves to curtail the Freedom of Information Act, had argued for an extension of the regime when it was introduced in 1997.
As the Opposition intensified its campaign against the restrictions yesterday, it was recalled that senior figures in Fianna Fáil and the PDs argued six years ago that the original Act did not go far enough.
Records from Dáil debates in March and April of 1997 show that the Rainbow Coalition faced a barrage of criticism from the then Opposition.
The former Fianna Fáil minister, Dr Michael Woods, described the Act as "little more than a window-dressing exercise in freedom of information".
Stating that the then government's failure to repeal the Official Secrets legislation was "complete nonsense", he said that the Freedom of Information Bill would preserve a culture of secrecy while trying to create the impression that it was doing the opposite. In a separate debate in 1997, Dr Woods said the original Bill was a "half measure".
"While the Bill has been described as an improvement, it represents no great step forward or leap into the future, contains no bold initiative and, by definition, will maintain the culture of secrecy within the public service," he said.
Such a culture favoured the interests of Government - "where there is fear of information being too readily available" - and those of civil service managers - "where power and control is vested in the head of the Department".
When contacted yesterday, Dr Woods said he would be supporting the Government's amendments.
He said he was unable to state whether his support was at variance with his comments in 1997 because he had not read the new Bill.
He did, however, state that he favoured the maximum release of information "consistent with efficient government".
The senior PD backbencher and former minister of state, Ms Liz O'Donnell, said in 1997 that the original Act would not "obliterate" the culture of secrecy and called for the repeal of the Official Secrets Act.
"There is little point in announcing a principle of openness and access to information if everything sensitive to the authorities can be excluded by way of exemption," she said.
Ms O'Donnell could not be contacted yesterday.
The former Fianna Fáil minister, Dr Jim McDaid, also criticised the scope of the original Act, stating that the balance of the appeals system should have favoured the disclosure of information. Dr McDaid, who could not be contacted yesterday, said in 1997 that the Act should also have been expanded to embrace the operations of the Garda.
"The public are entitled to information on how Garda policy is formulated," he said.
"By excluding the Garda from the legislation we are leaving it up to the Garda review body to give the Minister for Justice power to accept its findings without debate."
The Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Willie O'Dea, said in 1997 that the original system was a "grave disappointment" and stated that aspects of the Act were "excessively restrictive".
Mr O'Dea said: "It is a minimalist, carefully hedged-in Bill which, if interpreted in a certain way, will make very little practical difference to the administration of this country."
He said his support for the latest amendments did not contradict his earlier views.
"It goes to show you that predicting the future is not an exact science," he said.
