Freedom of Information is now a vital component of a functioning democracy
The stunning finding by IMN that over 300 unopened referrals in Tallaght Hospital had been discovered almost a decade after they were issued unsurprisingly made headline news, on radio, online and in print last week.
The crucial information was buried in a stack of information we received via a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 1997, and is yet another link in the shocking chain of incompetencies and mistakes that seems to be strangling certain elements of our health service. Introduced in 1997, the legislation states, “Subject to the provisions of this Act, every person has a right to and shall, on request therefore, be offered access to any record held by a public body and the right so conferred is referred to in this Act as the right of access.”
Although anyone in the State has the right to request information under this legislation, FOI is mostly used as a valuable tool by the media to obtain information that is withheld from the public domain. The phrase “ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies” comes to mind – except that when we ask questions, this law means that no lies can be told. Except that public bodies are becoming more adept at avoiding “being FOI-ed”. This sometimes involves point blank refusing to fulfil a request under one of the exemptions listed in the Act.
This can then be appealed but one gets the feeling the body in question is often hoping the appeal proves to be more hassle than it is worth. If one does decide to lodge an appeal, the internal review system is then conducted by the same body that has already issued the initial refusal – a baffling idiosyncracy. More worrying is the apparent trend of sidestepping or manipulating the type of information requested under FOI. Efforts to do this include taking minimal minutes at board meetings and being wary of what is committed to pen or email. This thwarts the very transparency the Act aims to provide. In 2003, an amendment to the Act, enabled by former Minister Charlie McCreevy, severely limited the level and breadth of information that could be obtained under it. Then opposition leader Enda Kenny said that this amendment effectively applied a “tourniquet” to the flow of information from public bodies.
The definitions of what constituted Cabinet papers were expanded so that rafts of material will never see the light of day, and documents relating to issues where the policy process was certified as ongoing could also be kept under wraps. The new coalition Government pledged to rectify this unsatisfactory situation during the General Election – stating that they would restore the legislation to what it was before it was “undermined”. Indeed, in the aftermath of the catastrophic events of the collapse of our economic stability, transparency is the word on everyone’s lips, and next year the Act will hopefully be widened. Journalists are used to being lied to.
Vital legislation such as the FOI Act of 1997 enables us to carry out our jobs using unimpeachable sources to bring information that is in the public interest to light. There are many more instances of our system failing patients and doctors alike to be uncovered and IMN will strive to do so using all the tools at our disposal.
