Sir, - Jim O'Brien (September 19th) had some hard things to say about extracting information from RT╔ on much of its own affairs.
He may be surprised to know that the Freedom of Information Act applies to RT╔, and not surprised to know that the range of exemptions renders the Act all but inoperable in RT╔'s case.
For a start, effectively anything to do with RT╔'s core activity, broadcasting, is exempt. According to information supplied to me under the FOI Act from the relevant Government Department, this exemption was agreed in little more than a simple exchange of letters between Ms S∅le Valera and Mr McCreevy. It was agreed on the basis of "journalistic privilege" (including concerns about material not transmitted and the protection of sources), backed up by practice in the UK and Australia.
While some of the concerns are legitimate, there seem to have been no arguments from a public interest perspective and therefore no search for an accommodation.
Next, anything to which the term "commercially sensitive" information (including management accounts) or "legal advice" can be applied, is likely to be claimed by RT╔ as exempt.
Being a public service organisation in the information business itself, one would expect RT╔ to be a model in this regard. However, apart from the courtesy and efficiency shown by its FOI office to requesters, the opposite is the case. - Yours, etc.
Donal O'Driscoll, Blackrock, Co Dublin.