The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD, today (Thursday) announced that work will shortly commence on a review of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
Minister McGrath made the announcement at an event organised by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), on the future of FOI in Ireland.
Today’s event heard varied contributions and perspectives on where FOI came from and where it might go from here, from expert panellists:
- Eithne Fitzgerald – Former Minister of State and social policy expert
- Fergus Finlay – Columnist and former head of Barnardos in Ireland
- Seamus Dooley – Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists
- Catherine Bannon – Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Health
The panel session was moderated by Peter Tyndall, Information Commissioner. Peter has recently announced that he will be retiring later in the year, and the Minister was delighted to take the opportunity to publicly recognise his achievements during his time as Information Commissioner and Ombudsman.