Vol. 541 No. 2
416 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make a statement on recent criticisms by the Information Commissioner that his Department had difficulties in dealing with Freedom of Information requests; and if he will investigate the matter. [20982/01]
Under Section 36(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, the Information Commissioner has recently carried out an investigation into the practices and procedures adopted by public bodies for the purposes of compliance with the provisions of the Act generally. My Department was one of the public bodies selected for inclusion in the investigation and co-operated fully with the Office of the Information Commissioner in this regard. The volume of FOI requests received by my Department on a yearly basis has grown steadily since commencement, with a total of 452 requests received in the year 2000 and in excess of 477 requests received this year to date. While the Act reflects best administrative practice, difficulties have been encountered in meeting the statutory deadlines.
The Information Commissioner's Report recommended that the Department review its procedures for dealing with requests under the Freedom of Information Act and take early action to address the deficiencies identified. These deficiencies relate to delays in meeting statutory deadlines, advising on rights of appeal, liaising with the Information Commissioners Office on cases under review. While there is still a backlog of requests, the Department has assigned additional resources to the freedom of information unit and adopted new procedures for the processing of requests. A program of training is planned for the newly assigned staff together with the panel of internal reviewers. The manner of advising requesters of their rights of appeal is now consistent with that advised by the Information Commissioner. There are a growing numbers of requests for personal records from adults who were in residential or foster care as children. The Department has consulted the National Archives and the Department of Education on the indexing of relevant files. It is intended to introduce standard arrangements for processing such requests in the future. In reviewing the operation of the Act, the Department's priorities would reflect the main recommendations of the Information Commissioner. These include the development of expertise, appropriate use of exemptions, records management initiatives, and the release of information routinely without recourse to the Act.
