Vol. 503 No. 6
6 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach his Department's policy in regard to charging for freedom of information requests; the amount of money raised to date from these charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9868/99]
Section 47 of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, provides that fees may be charged only in respect of the cost of, search for and retrieval of records and the cost of copying records. Fees may not be charged for examination of records or other deliberations involved in processing requests.
The fees for search and retrieval are fixed by reference to the clerical officer scale at £16.50 per hour. Copying charges are 3p per copy for photocopies, 40p for a floppy disk and £8 for CD-ROM. It is the policy of the Department not to charge fees unless the amount of work involved is substantial. Of the 168 requests received to date, fees have been sought in only five cases. The total amount charged was £176.40. No fees were charged in 96 per cent of cases.
Is the Taoiseach aware that when a Deputy sought information under the Freedom of Information Act on a matter of genuine public interest, the Department of Health and Children attempted to charge £600 for the information to which he was entitled as a public representative? Does the Taoiseach agree that the application of these charges is entirely arbitrary and is being used by some Departments to discourage inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act in a way that is totally at variance with the spirit of the legislation?
In this case I am answering for my Department and the attitude adopted by it is to be as helpful and to give as full information as possible in these cases.
I am not referring to the Taoiseach's Department which is, as he says, exemplary in its compliance with the spirit and the letter of the Act. Will he inquire into the allegation I made that some Departments – I single out the Department of Health and Children – are behaving in a fashion which is not in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act by imposing charges such as those to which I referred?
I will make an inquiry but there is a process to be followed under the Act if people are to be unhelpful. I understand Deputy Bruton is talking about a Deputy so I will make an inquiry.
