Five-year-old Cabinet papers to be available as Howlin reforms FoI rules

Access to sensitive government files and information held by gardaí, financial and legal bodies is to be opened up under reforms to freedom of information (FoI) rules.

Up to 75 state bodies are to be added to the list of organisations subject to information requests but access to files will be restricted to documents that go back no further than five years.

Brendan Howlin, the public expenditure minister, obtained agreement at Cabinet this week for the text of the Freedom of Information Bill, which will be published next week.