Policy papers storage ‘costly’

A motion calling for the permanent storage of Wexford County Council’s policy documents was modified as it would prove too costly.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the local authority, Cllr Oisin O’Connell said in the interests of transparency and accountability policy documents adopted by elected members of the council should be archived online permanently in an accessible manner for the public. CEO Tom Enright supported the spirit of the motion, but questioned the merits of storing the documents permanently. ‘Permanent is a substantial period of time,’ he said. Cllr O’Connell said there are many ways to store the documents, including in the National Library of Ireland. Mr Enright said: ‘We should be doing this for long periods of time. but I personally think it would be onerous on us.’

Cllr David Hynes said with online accessibility the documents will be found at some stage. Cllr Malcolm Byrne said: ‘The minutes are well archived. We are not trying to hide anything. There should be ease of access for a period of time but not permanently.’

Director of Services Eddie Taaffe said storing the information can be costly. ‘If you store much even if it’s free the cost of searching goes through the roof.’

Cllr Robbie Ireton said: ‘How many councillors are going to want to go back over these. I want to got forward, not backwards.’