The Minister of State for Finance, Mr Cullen, was full of reformist zeal when he addressed a freedom of information (FOI) seminar in Dublin City University. The Freedom of Information Act, for which he is responsible, is part of an agenda of unprecedented change in the public service, he said. Freedom of information staff throughout the public service have been extensively trained as part of an overall project aimed at delivering better and more open government. So enthusiastic was the Department of Finance about the project that it had even donated some funding towards the DCU seminar.

It would have sounded very promising, if DCU lecturer Brian Trench had not brought things down to earth. He revealed the findings of a telephone exercise carried out by some of his students to test ease of access across the public service. Unfortunately, they found they were not able to make contact with the Department of Finance.