The need for good governance and accountability, and the positive role played by the Freedom of Information Act in providing access to decisions by politicians and public bodies, has been emphasised once again by the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner, Emily O'Reilly.
In spite of her efforts to engage the attention of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, however, she appears to be engaged in a dialogue of the deaf.
Two years ago, the Taoiseach acknowledged that new charges imposed by his Government should be reviewed because of their negative impact on the operation of the Act, where public requests for information had fallen by one-third. But nothing has changed, in spite of the Ombudsman's promptings and a critical report on the fees adopted by the Council of Europe. The number of applications for information did increase last year, but is still 21 per cent below the 2003 figure. And the percentage of journalists' requests has fallen by two-thirds.
Time and again, it has been shown that transparency and accountability are vital ingredients in effective government. Such features reassure and empower the citizen while encouraging public servants and politicians to behave ethically and responsibly. That is why it is important the Government should now signal its approval of the Act by reducing charges and extending its remit. Otherwise, it will offer implicit approval to those agencies, such as Coillte and the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources that sought to thwart the work of the Ombudsman.
Traditions of secrecy and obfuscation are slow to change in the public service. Ms O'Reilly noted that a ruling by her predecessor on the release of school inspection reports, which had been strongly opposed by the Department of Education, was now acceptable to the Minister. And while the Health Service Executive had undertaken to publish its inspection reports on private nursing homes last year, that had not yet happened. Such action should be undertaken speedily, she suggested, because of the public interest in the documents.
Originally, it was agreed that the decisions and records of all State agencies would be exposed to scrutiny under the Freedom of Information Act, subject to security and other considerations. But progress in extending the remit of the Act to these bodies has been slow and halting. The Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, announced he would extend its jurisdiction to a further 109 organisations late last year. But the Ombudsman has expressed concern that public bodies of considerable significance will remain outside its scope. The sooner that situation changes, the better.