Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2004
87 Ms Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the percentage of requests under the Freedom of Information Act which proceed to internal appeal in her Department; the way in which that percentage compares with the percentage in previous years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13298/04]
View answerIn the first four months of 2004, my Department received two internal appeals to decisions made under the Freedom of Information Act. The figures for the equivalent periods in the years 1999 to 2003 were as follows:
|
Year |
Number |
as % of requests |
|
1999 |
22 |
25.9 |
|
2000 |
7 |
7.9 |
|
2001 |
5 |
5.3 |
|
2002 |
7 |
10.9 |
|
2003 |
12 |
13.9 |
The number of appeals for 1999 is significantly greater than any other year because of the activities of one applicant who made a very large number of requests to the Department in that year. Subsequent years provide a more representative picture of internal review activity in my Department. The level of internal review requests to end April in 2004 represents a rate of 10.5% of initial request levels for the period. The internal review level for the first four months of 2004 is therefore broadly consistent with levels for previous years when measured as a percentage of overall requests received in the period.
88 Ms Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of requests under the Freedom of Information Act received by her Department in the first quarter of 2004; the way in which this compares with the number of FOI requests received in a similar period in previous years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13313/04]
View answerThe number of freedom of information requests received in my Department in the first quarter of 2004 was 14. The number of requests received in the equivalent periods of previous years was as follows:
|
Year |
Requests |
|
1999 |
68 |
|
2000 |
74 |
|
2001 |
76 |
|
2002 |
52 |
|
2003 |
73 |
My Department takes a pro-active approach to freedom of information. Much information is released outside of FOI and therefore is not reflected in the above statistics.
