Enda Kenny
Ceist:6 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the number of staff in his Department who are engaged in processing freedom of information requests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13151/02]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - Freedom of Information.
Enda Kenny
Ceist:7 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information requests which have been received by his Department since June 2002; the number which have been acceded to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15624/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 7 together.
The number of staff in my Department allocated to deal with requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act, in addition to their normal duties, is 14 key decision makers across the divisions in my Department, who are mainly at assistant principal level; one higher executive officer who is the freedom of information liaison officer and who is responsible for receiving and monitoring requests and co-ordination generally of requirements under the Act as they relate to my Department; and two assistant secretaries and four principal officers who are responsible for the internal review process.
A total of 32 requests under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, were received in my Department from 1 June to 4 October 2002. Of these, a decision was taken to grant the request in two cases and to part grant in two cases. In the remaining cases, no records were held in respect of seven cases, four cases were refused, three cases were transferred to other Departments, two cases were withdrawn and there are 12 cases ongoing.
Requests received in the Department are processed in accordance with the Act. The implementation of the Act in my Department is kept under review on an ongoing basis.
Prior to the last election the Government confirmed in writing that there were no plans to introduce any cutbacks – public, secret or any other kind. The public finances subsequently became derailed and a leaked document found its way into the public domain which indicated a requirement for cutbacks of €900 million. As we approach the decision on the Nice treaty on 19 October, it is perfectly obvious—
Does the Deputy have a question relevant to Question No. 6 or 7?
I am coming to the question. It is perfectly obvious that the attitude of the public at large has changed due to confusion about the public finances.
The question refers specifically to the Freedom of Information Act. Does the Deputy have an appropriate question?
I have. On 24 September each member of the Fine Gael Front Bench wrote to his or her opposite number requesting, under the Freedom of Information Act, that the spending profiles of each Department from January 2001 be made available so that spending projections and indications of where Exchequer spending went off the rails would come to light. Only acknowledgements have been received to date. Two weeks after the request was made, and less than ten days before the decision on Nice, may I suggest to the Taoiseach that this information be made available so that the public may know the truth.
The question that the Deputy asked refers specifically to the Taoiseach's Department.
If people are seeking information under freedom of information rules it will be there, but in order to be helpful to the Deputy I refer his Front Bench spokesperson on finance to the documents announced by officials at the press conference last week on the nine month returns. The profiles of each month's expenditure can be seen and it will be quite clear that nobody misled anyone. All of the efforts were directed towards bringing public expenditure back to the 14% outlined to this House on the first Wednesday of last December. This has been fulfilled totally and completely in the Revised Estimates published last February. If anybody was to examine those documents he or she would see that this information was totally in the public domain.
I respectfully suggest to the Deputy that his finance spokesperson should also look at the full document pertaining to the growth and stability pact which was also put before the House on the first Wednesday of last December. That document showed the figures for this year, last year and next year and was used extensively by members of his party during Question Time this spring. They have clearly forgotten that they used those figures.
The point at issue is that the public mind is certainly confused about the state of the public finances and this has been exacerbated by a leaked document that found its way into the public domain. I would have expected the Taoiseach, as Head of Government and leader of the country, and in the public interest, to instruct all Ministers to issue to the Deputies the information requested under the Freedom of Information Act. I am disappointed in that reply.