Call for NAMA and Anglo to come under scope of FoI

NAMA, the Central Bank and Anglo Irish Bank should come under the scope of the Freedom of Information Act before the end of this year, the Information Commissioner said yesterday.

Emily O’Reilly said it was imperative those bodies involved in the financial crash, as well as the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), should be included under the act so past mistakes are not repeated.

The Information Commissioner made her comments as she published her office’s annual report for 2010. It showed that there was a 7% increase in the number of FOI requests — 15,249 in total.

The vast majority of requests, 75%, were from private individuals, and many requests were sent regarding two government departments: requests received by the Department of Social Protection rose by 54% compared to the figure for 2009, while requests to the Department of Finance increased by 24%.

However, some data relating to the bank guarantee decision of September 28, 2008, is still outside the scope of the FOI Act, and recently the Wright Report, which looked at strengthening the Department of Finance’s capacity in light of the banking collapse, recommended that policy advice to the minister of the day not be subject to FOI for fear of creating instability in the markets.

Ms O’Reilly said this displayed a “misunderstanding or ignorance of FOI regulations by the Department of Finance and the authors of the Wright Report” claiming that there were already sufficient protections within the legislation.

“I think we need less secrecy, not more secrecy,” she said, adding that the authors of the Wright Report had themselves mentioned the paucity of records and lack of a paper trail regarding elements of the banking collapse.

Ms O’Reilly also complained that the core elements of some bodies were removed from the FOI legislation without consultation with her office.

One instance was the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. Following two separate requests for information, one regarding a sample held in a Garda station and the other regarding information on an intoxilyser, the records were released. However the then transport minister Noel Dempsey added an amendment to new legislation meaning similar requests could not be made in future.

“I think this was wrong,” Ms O’Reilly said, citing the “whims” of a public body in “effectively opting out of the regime and legislation”.