Openness to replace public service secrecy under new information law

WHEN the President, Mrs Robinson, signs into law the Freedom of Information Act the public service will begin the process of changing a culture it has lived with since the foundation of the State.

Secrecy is so embedded in the system that when the freedom of information legislation was being planned it was decided it should not come into effect for a year, allowing time for civil servants to get over their initial panic and become accustomed to the openness and transparency.

Public servants are used to a system which deems everything coming from government to be secret unless otherwise decided. Now the Freedom of Information Bill has been passed that assumption will be reversed.

For this to work huge changes will have to be effected. After Mrs Robinson has signed the Act into law, civil servants must begin preparing a manual giving details of the functions of each Department, the type of information held and the appeals system the Departments will put in place. The manual will also contain the internal regulations, rules and guidelines that affect how decisions are taken.

Departments will have to reorganise the information retrieval systems and train staff for the bright new information future.

WHEN this is all implemented, Ireland takes its place with the rest of the EU, except Britain. All European countries have freedom of information to some degree. The Scandinavian countries tend to have the most liberal systems, with Sweden having a constitutional protection for press freedom and freedom of information going back to the 18th century. Other countries offer constitutional protection of the right to information.

People in Ireland will be given three new rights from April 1998: the right to seek access to any information held; the right to correct information held that might be wrong; and the right to see how decisions relating to oneself were taken.

It means access to files and information without restriction, unless the information comes within a number of categories, such as information relating to the security of the State, Northern Ireland or ongoing criminal investigations.

Information cannot automatically be held back, unless it would be damaging.

But there is a public interest over-ride, which means that if the public interest is greater than the possible damage, the information must be released.

Enter the information commissioner. This person will be the guardian of freedom of information who will adjudicate on disputes, intervene when a public body refuses to divulge information and force the information into the public domain, find out why it was refused and insist it never happens again. This white knight of openness, transparency and accountability will be the Ombudsman.

Public bodies will have a statutory obligation to help people identify the information they require. When it is identified, it must be made available within 30 days.

Cabinet information comes under a different category because of the ruling of the Supreme Court on Cabinet confidentiality. Pending a referendum and subsequent legislation, all factual information from Cabinet will be made available as soon as the decision it relates to has been taken.

Other information will be held for five years. However, Cabinet discussions will remain secret pending a constitutional change.

There are two areas of controversy remaining, the ability of Ministers to issue certificates to keep secret certain highly sensitive information and the fact that the Garda will only come under the scope of the Act if brought in by ministerial order.

The certificate system means that a Minister can keep back information because of its sensitivity and the damage it might cause if released. This will come under, three categories: the security of the State, law enforcement and international relations. This will be reviewed by the Taoiseach and senior Ministers and has to be regularly renewed.

It is believed it was fears in the Department of Justice about freedom of information that forced the Minister of State, Ms Eithne Fitzgerald, to accept the ministerial certificate system.

There is a similar system under both Australia's and New Zealand's freedom of information regimes. In New Zealand it has hardly ever been used. In Australia, about 20 certificates a year are issued.

One Civil Service source said it was not envisaged it would be used often. "It's more a security blanket," she said.

All Government Departments and their offices will come under the legislation from day one, followed six months later by local authorities and health boards. The Garda and State bodies will be included by ministerial order.

IT will mean people will have access to their medical files, can find out where, they are on the housing list, and why the Arts Council turned down their grant applications.

Ms Fitzgerald has said Freedom of Information will change for ever the way public business is done and will herald a quiet revolution in the public service. It might also see an end to the days of the reputed no comment and don't quote me response to a query.