Freedom of Information Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 October 2015

Wednesday, 21 October 2015

Questions (164)

Seán Fleming

Question:

164. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of freedom of information requests, in tabular form, received by his Department in 2015 to date; the number of these where the period of consideration was completed within four weeks of the receipt of the request; and the number where the period of consideration was extended by up to four weeks because the necessary resources to complete the request within the original timeframe were not available. [36747/15]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

The information in respect of Freedom of Information requests for the period January 2015 to date received by my Department is set out in the following table.

Total FOI requests received January 2015 to date	Completed within the initial four week timeframe
308	199

Cases may take longer than 4 weeks to be completed for a range of reasons, including the requirement for search and retrieval fees, the refinement or clarification of a request or the requirement to undertake third party consultations. While the broad scope of particular Freedom of Information requests may present challenges in finalising responses within a 4 week period, I am satisfied that the processing of FOI is appropriately prioritised in my Department and is kept under regular review.