Speaking on the Freedom of Information (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2012 during Private Members Business in the Dáil today (Friday), Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire Deputy, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, said that while she agrees that the number of agencies and organisations under the scope of the FOI legislation should be broadened, she is concerned that many of the files being sought may be lacking comprehensive and truthful information.

“I agree with the proposal to bring bodies such as the Central Bank, NAMA, the NTMA, and VECs under the remit of the Freedom of Information legislation. However, I am concerned that many files being sought may be somewhat lacking when it comes to giving a true and accurate reflection of accounts.

“I am referring specifically to the amount, or lack thereof, of information that was available to the Fine Gael and Labour Parties, when they came to office, about events that led to the bank guarantee on 29th September 2008. That event had a devastating impact on the Irish people, the effects of which the current Government is working assiduously to undo.
“It beggars belief that no written record of what exactly happened on that night is available to the Irish people. It should never happen again that the details of a decision of t such national importance goes unrecorded.

“Where NAMA is concerned, I have reservations, which I have raised in the past, about how the Agency is conducting its business. The perceived lack of transparency of how property is being sold privately is a cause for real concern. There are suspicions that lands owned by the State are being sold to a golden circle, with Joe or Josephine public being unaware that it is on offer, with the result that they are being denied an opportunity to bid for it.

“NAMA is obliged to get the maximum price for the land and property that it has acquired, and which the taxpayer has paid for. If this property/land is being sold behind closed doors then Irish taxpayers and citizens are being short changed. Bringing NAMA under the remit of FOI legislation will brings us a step closer to determining the outline of events in such case.”