Denis Naughten
Ceist:115 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Finance the plans he has to review procedures regarding the Freedom of Information Act, 1997. [21865/01]
Written Answers. - Freedom of Information.
Since before the FOI Act came into force in 1998, procedures have existed to support its implementation and to review its operation on an ongoing basis.
Briefly, these include the FOI central policy unit, which supports FOI officers and decision-makers in all bodies that are covered by the legislation and maintains regular contact with the main FOI user networks. In addition, there is an interdepartmental working group in place which meets regularly under the chairmanship of an officer of Assistant Secretary rank to review the operation of the Act and to consider developments.
The Information Commissioner has statutory functions in relation to the operation of FOI. In a recent report prepared by the Information Commissioner in performance of his function to examine compliance with the FOI Act, he found that the procedures and practices adopted for the purposes of handling requests under the Act are generally satisfactory. Overall, the Information Commissioner gave a positive report on the first three years of the operation of FOI, expressing the view that the Act had brought about major gains in openness and transparency in the public service. Over 40,000 requests have been made since FOI came into force in 1998, during which time it has been extended from 67 to more than 300 bodies.
Of course, there will always be areas where public bodies can do things better and the Information Commissioner made a range of recommendations identifying certain areas requiring attention. The main general criticism related to where information is refused, in some bodies, the proper statement of reasons failed to meet the requirements of the Act. These recommendations will need to be examined very carefully. In order to address the issues raised, a special subgroup of the interdepartmental working group has been established to consider the Information Commissioner's recommendations.
With regard to the Act itself, a report was prepared on technical and procedural issues relating to the Act and its operation by the Civil Service users' network in December 1999. Consideration is being given at official level to the issues identified in that report.