Seanad Report: The Programme for Government might not be fully delivered on because of "the way things are going", the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, said.
The Minister was speaking in the committee stage debate on the Garda Síochána Bill. He had been asked by Mr Brian Hayes, Fine Gael leader in the House, if a provision forbidding members of the force from disclosing "harmful" information obtained in the course of their duties, would be applied also to civil servants in the Department of Justice or other government departments where information had come to them via gardaí. A huge amount of information came into the hands of a vast number of people in very sensitive positions concerning security matters, added Mr Hayes. It had happened that information had been touted and put into the public domain, not only to wreck politicians but other individuals in a malicious and harmful way. Would the prohibition in the Bill be extended?
The Minister said that the provisions of this Bill were subject to this particular case. However, the Official Secrets Act applied to everybody in the Department of Justice, for instance. The replacement of the Official Secrets Act was a part of the Programme for Government that had not yet been reached "and may not be reached, in fact, the way things are going".