Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 June 2004
4 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance his views on the review of the operation of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003 published by the Information Commissioner; and the recommendations which are being accepted by him. [18844/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe special investigation published last week by the Information Commissioner was carried out under section 36 of the Act and dealt with the practices and procedures adopted by public bodies for the purposes of compliance with the provisions of the Act and of enabling persons to exercise the rights conferred by the Act. I welcome the Information Commissioner's finding that public bodies are operating the Act in a fair and balanced manner.
In so far as the Information Commissioner makes recommendations on the policy concerning fees, I have no plans to review the position. The fees introduced last year were intended to strike a better balance between the cost of administering FOI and the need to continue to allow people to have access to information. I am satisfied that a better balance has been struck and that a greater appreciation of the service provided by public bodies and more considered and responsible use of the Act has resulted.
I am amazed at the Minister's response. The report issued by the Information Commissioner on the operation of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003 contains some frightening figures. Surely the Minister must take this into account.
The overall use of the freedom of information measure has gone down by 50% since the Minister introduced that draconian legislation. Non-personal use is down by 75% since the changes were introduced. Media use is down 83% in the first quarter of 2004 compared to the first quarter of 2003. Business requests are down 53% in the same time. The Minister should consider the intentions behind the introduction of the freedom of information legislation. In spite of this, he has just about shut it down. Does he not have a conscience? Another day in the House I asked the Minister whether he felt any pangs of conscience about the work he does and he told me he had absolutely none.
I explained why I did not. I am a Fianna Fáil man, and we do not have a conscience.
Surely, in a democratic society, people are entitled to freedom of information. The Minister should not have shut down the system, as he has done. Furthermore, is he not ashamed to consider that Ireland is unique in the democratic world in applying charges for reviews and appeals under the Act? Will he not review that?
The Information Commissioner fully vindicated my stance on the Freedom of Information Act and the imposition of fees. No fee was charged for requests for personal information before or after the amended Act was introduced. There is a €15 charge for other requests. This is only the cost of a few pints. If people do not think it worth their while to pay €15, when the average cost of a request is more than €420, they must not be very interested in obtaining the information. This proves that the previous system was abused.
Many of the negative comments about the changes I made may have led people to believe that we stripped the Freedom of Information Act of its powers. The major changes in the areas of certificates and so on have not been made use of. The report fully vindicates my position on fees and I have no intention of changing the Act.
It is amazing how people interpret figures in different ways. It is not amazing that this Minister for Finance could review the figures and find that they vindicate his case, whereas the Information Commissioner who is independent says the fears many people expressed when the Minister introduced these amendments to the Freedom of Information Act were justified and that it is being shut down.
The Minister is disingenuous in referring to the €15 fee under FOI because if there is a further appeal to the Information Commissioner the fee will be €240. Even to the Minister €240 is a substantial sum of money. It is not to be sneezed at so let us not laugh it off as being equivalent to the price of a few pints. Surely when the Information Commissioner makes recommendations it is incumbent on the Minister to examine and assess them and not just come in here with a glib refusal to do anything about them. Has the Minister reviewed them? Has he examined them carefully? Has he thought about what is required in a democracy? Surely it is incumbent on him to do something about it.
Let me ask a possibly stupid question. Has the Minister read the report?
I have. Consequently, I am even more reinforced in my view that the changes I made were worthwhile and correct. Furthermore, we are unique in the area of freedom of information in that we do not charge for the time it takes to process freedom of information requests. That is not part of the Act and, therefore, a fee of €15 is payable initially if the request does not involve personal information. What would be termed substantial changes to the Act related to, for example, the ten-year rule regarding Cabinet papers, Secretary General certificates of which none were issued, and Cabinet working groups of which none were certified. No such decisions were made in 2003.
Regarding some of the people who were using the Act, particularly journalists, it seems their commercial organisations cannot afford to give them €15 for a freedom of information request but they expect the taxpayer to make up the bulk of the cost of €125. Regarding the fees for internal and external review, only 9% and 3.5%, respectively, ever go for internal or external review. The numbers were very small before and after the changes I made last year.
Perhaps they are closing down because of the terrible charges regime the Minister has introduced.
There is no change in the percentage. The numbers were small and they remain small.
