Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2021
99. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is satisfied in the context of the freedom of information publication scheme that all logs are published and up to date in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2014; if not, the reason they are not published; and if he will update them as a matter of priority. [36122/21]
View answer100. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount collected on an annual basis since the Freedom of Information Act 2014 commenced in respect of fees attached to freedom of information requests submitted to his Department. [36140/21]
View answer101. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of freedom of information requests refused by his Department since the Freedom of Information Act 2014 commenced for the reason that search and copy costs would exceed the maximum threshold; the number of requests that were subsequently granted following engagement with the requester to narrow the scope of the request; and the costs associated with same. [36158/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 99 to 101, inclusive, together.
In accordance with Section 8 of the FOI Act (Publication of information about FOI bodies), the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment publishes its FOI disclosure log on its website. This disclosure log Details of FOI requests received from April 2016 onwards and was most recently updated on 24 June 2021. Copies of the disclosure log can be found here: Publication - DBEI (enterprise.gov.ie)
The table below outlines the fees collected on an annual basis since the Freedom of Information Act 2014 commenced.
|
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
January to June 2021 |
|
€740.98 |
€70.00 |
€150.00 |
€782.70 |
€768.68 |
Zero |
Zero |
€70.00 |
Since the commencement of the Freedom of Information Act 2014, no formal refusals have issued as a result of search and copy costs exceeding the maximum threshold. It is standard practice as per Section 27(7)(a) that in a situation where a request could be seen to exceed the threshold, that the FOI unit assist the requester in amending their request such that it no longer exceeds this threshold. The amendment of the request in these cases has negated the need to refuse these requests.
