Freedom of Information Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 February 2018

Tuesday, 27 February 2018

Questions (719)

Stephen Donnelly

Question:

719. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of freedom of information requests his Department has received in the past eight years; the number accepted without further escalation and not accepted respectively; the number requested which were not accepted that were escalated to the Information Commissioner; the number on which the Information Commissioner ruled in favour of the person requesting the freedom of information; the number on which the Information Commissioner ruled against his Department; the number his department appealed to the High Court; the number on which the High Court ruled against his Department in favour of the applicant; the number which were then brought to the Court of Appeal by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9294/18]

Written answers (Question to Housing)

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government

The number of Freedom of Information requests received by my Department in the past eight years is detailed in the table. All requests received are accepted and processed. Freedom of Information requests may be granted, part-granted, refused, transferred or withdrawn. Where a requestor is dissatisfied with a decision, they may seek an internal review. Where the requestor is dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, they may appeal to the OIC. The numbers appealed to the Office of the Information Commissioner in each of the years is also detailed in the table. The Office of the Information Commissioner has, following review, found in favour of 14 cases, overturned 5 cases and varied the decision in 2 cases. My Department has not appealed any OIC decisions to the High Court or the Court of Appeal.

	No. of FOI Requests Received	No of FOI appeals accepted by the OIC	Number of Department decisions affirmed	Number of Department decisions overturned	Number of Department decisions varied
2010	145	figures not recorded	figures not recorded	figures not recorded	figures not recorded
2011	99	figures not recorded	figures not recorded	figures not recorded	figures not recorded
2012	184	2	1	1	0
2013	98	3	2	1	0
2014	180	2	1	0	1
2015	395	3	2	1	0
2016	393	9	6	2	1
2017	351	2	2	0	0