Vol. 495 No. 2
6 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Taoiseach if he will give details of the number of applications made to his Department for the release of information under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997; the number of requests granted and refused; if he will list the applications granted and refused; if he has satisfied himself with the operation of the Act within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17511/98]
7 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the total number of requests to date his Department has received under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, the number of requests refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17638/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 7 together.
The information sought is contained in the schedule which is being circulated. Since the Act commenced on 21 April 1998, my Department has received 50 requests. Twenty have been granted and of these ten have been partially granted. Seven requests are ongoing and four requests were transferred to other Departments. Where requests have been partially granted, certain information was withheld as it was exempt under various relevant sections of the Act. In addition, 17 requests have been refused and two have been withdrawn.
All but one of the requests fully processed to date have been dealt with within the time frames allowed under the Act. The specific length of time taken to process each request within these time limits varies, depending on the complexity of the request and the volume of records requested.
Will the Taoiseach indicate the grounds for refusing the 17 cases? Why were the two cases withdrawn, was it at the request of the Department or was it voluntarily done by those who sought the information? Will he indicate what provision is in the Freedom of Information Act for a member of the public or a Member of this House to seek the verbal advice which the Taoiseach or other Ministers receive from heads of Departments or the Attorney General?
The Deputy should not take it to such a ridiculous extent.
I find it hard enough to get written advice. Deputy De Rossa is familiar with the Act. Of the 17 cases refused, eight were refused because no relevant records were held in the Department; three were refused because they were too broad in scope and the requester did not respond to the offer to reconsider more focused questions, which is what happens when there is an omnibus question; and six were refused because they were exempt under various sections of the Act. I do not know why two requests were withdrawn. I assume it was at the behest of whoever was involved.
Under the Act, an official is designated in each Department to deal with its functions and they independently examine requests.
How will the Freedom of Information Act operate effectively in the interests of openness and transparency in Government if verbal advice sought by the Minister is not available?
We will go around with microphones and broadcast all information.
Is it a mechanism which can be used to avoid having to put on record advice which the Taoiseach may not wish to accept?
I am sure that when the Deputy was participating in the implemenation of this Act, he left out verbal advice for that reason.
The former President Nixon had good ways of ensuring that all advice was available.
We can make a film about it with Jim Carrey.
Look what happened to Fine Gael's funding records.
Does the Taoiseach have any estimate of the costs and extra staff resources required to cope with the demands placed on the officials of his Department by this legislation?
In terms of costs, other than the designated official who spends a great deal of time dealing with requests, it is part of others' normal duties. They do not have extra functions or receive extra allowances. The charges levied to individuals under the legislation to date amount to £345 and a deposit of £69 has been sought from others. There is no charge for photocopying as a letter or two is all that is normally requested.
In pursuit of the question of verbal advice, in response to the first question the Taoiseach indicated that he received verbal advice, presumably from the Attorney General, as regards important legislation. That, to say the least, is highly unusual. It is my understanding that when the Attorney General gives advice about legislation, he does so in writing. Is there any way in which, under the Freedom of Information Act, the advice which the Taoiseach claimed he received verbally as regards regional and local government can be made available to Deputies in this House? It could be lodged in the Library. I presume that at the very least he would have made a note of the advice he received.
I have made advice available to the House today.
We need to know the detail.
We need to know the question asked before we know the relevance of the answer.
Deputies are repeating questions we have already dealt with.
There is no legislation yet.
The Taoiseach is dodging the question.
What is the question?
