Vol. 528 No. 1
407 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of freedom of information requests received by his Department; the number of requests rejected; if he will review the treatment of freedom of information requests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29469/00]
The total number of applications received in my Department under the Freedom of Information Act from 21 April 1998 – date of commencement of the Act – to 30 November 2000 was 2004. All requests received in my Department were considered in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, and either granted or refused on that basis. A total of 238 requests were refused and a further 307 were part refused. There is no discernible pattern to the requests refused which covered the wide range of issues encompassed in my Department's operations.
A total of 240 reviews have been submitted to my Department following the refusal or part refusal of freedom of information requests.
The sum of 51 of the original decisions were upheld, and 14 review applications were granted with a further 13 decisions varied. The sum of 20 review applications were withdrawn and 142 review applications are pending.
