Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2023
677. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the total number of Freedom of Information requests submitted to her Department in 2022 and to date in 2023; the total number of such requests that were rejected in their entirety; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51979/23]
View answerMy Department received a total of 46 Freedom of Information requests in 2022, of which 6 were refused. In 2023, to date, my Department has received 48 Freedom of Information requests, of which 10 have been refused.
Requests are refused where records are withheld under the various exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act. In respect of the requests where no records were released the majority were refused under Section 15(1)(a) of the Act, where records did not exist or could not be found. Other reasons for refusal included Section 29 (Deliberations of FOI Bodies), Section 30 (Functions and Negotiations of FOI Bodies), Section 35 (Information obtained in confidence) and Section 36 (Commercially Sensitive Information).
I would note that, for 2022, of the 6 requests refused, 4 were due to no relevant records being held by the Department. For 2023 to date, of the 10 requests refused, 7 were refused due to no relevant records being held by the Department.
In compliance with the Freedom of Information Publication Scheme my Department publishes, on a quarterly basis, a log of all non-personal Freedom of Information requests received. These logs are available on our website at www.gov.ie/en/collection/f68256-disclosure-logs/.
My Department endeavours to deal with all Freedom of Information requests in an open and accessible manner, and is active in assisting requesters to refine their requests where possible to ensure that relevant information can be provided.
