Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 March 2015
403. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Defence the number of occasions since the start of 2014 on which the Secretary General of his Department has been involved in the clearing or approval of material for release under Freedom of Information legislation. [11796/15]
View answerIn accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 2014, the Minister for Defence is head of the Freedom of Information (FOI) body in relation to the Department of Defence.
Decision making functions regarding FOI requests are delegated formally to civil servants at Assistant Principal and Principal level. Requests for an internal appeal of an FOI decision are in turn delegated to the grade of Principal, in cases where the original decision was made by an Assistant Principal and to the grade of Assistant Secretary with regard to appeals in cases where the original decision was made at Principal level.
The Secretary General of the Department does not have a role in relation to the clearing or approval of material for release under FOI legislation.
