O'Reilly hits out at 'secrecy culture'

THE Government's ongoing "culture of secrecy" in the operation of Freedom of Information legislation has been criticised by Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly.

A report by the commissioner into the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act has highlighted how the Government has introduced 50 new non-disclosure provisions since it came into force in April 1997. These represent one-third of a total of more than 150 existing secrecy provisions.

Ms O'Reilly's comments follow her review of Section 32 of the FOI Act 1997 which allows State bodies to refuse access to certain records under separate legislation.