Vol. 560 No. 1
261 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether it is reasonable that someone should have to wait over two years for an investigator to be assigned to a review of an application under the Freedom of Information Act 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27047/02]
As of 31 December 2002, there are a total of 640 appeal cases, technically, "reviews", on hand in the Office of the Information Commissioner. The breakdown of these appeals in terms of the year of receipt of the appeal is as follows: 1999 – seven cases; 2000 – 85 cases; 2001 – 264 cases; 2002 – 284 cases; total – 640 cases.
All review applications received since 1 April 2002 are being dealt with immediately by the Office of the Information Commissioner. These cases are not being delayed pending the clearing of the historical backlog of arrears cases. It is the commissioner's objective, in relation to review applications received since 1 April 2002, that to the greatest extent possible they should be decided within the three month guideline timescale provided for at section 34(3)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 1997.
Cases received prior to 1 April 2002 will continue to be processed alongside the more current cases. The commissioner envisages that it may, unfortunately, take two to three years to clear this backlog. The commissioner will, however, keep all of his working arrangements – including those for dealing with the arrears cases – under regular review.
