Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2004
1 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information requests made to his Department in 2004 to date; the number acceded to; the way in which this compares to the same period in 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22480/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra2 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information requests received by his Department in 2004 to date; the total amount of FOI fees received by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24036/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra3 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach the number of requests received in 2004 to date by his Department under the Freedom of Information Acts; the way in which this compares with the respective periods for 2003 and 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27858/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra4 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information requests received by his Department in 2004 to date; and the number of such requests acceded to. [30192/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.
Since the beginning of 2004, 40 freedom of information requests were received in my Department. Of these requests, 20 were granted or part granted, no records were held in respect of nine, four were refused, three were withdrawn, two were transferred to other Departments and two are ongoing.
Some 139 requests were received during the same period in 2003 and 128 were received in the same period in 2002. The Department has received €450 in application fees since the beginning of this year. All requests received in my Department are processed in accordance with the 1997 and 2003 Acts and their implementation is kept under constant review.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply in which he stated that 20 of the 40 requests were granted. Is it possible for him to indicate how many of the refusals were appealed to the Information Commissioner? I would not be surprised if he gives a figure of none given that each appeal costs €150. However, I am interested to find out that particular figure.
Going on his reply to a similar question last July, the Taoiseach indicated and certainly hinted that the Government might respond positively to the Information Commissioner's call for a reappraisal of the €150 charge. According to the commissioner, appeals relating to non-personal information have dropped by 50%. Does the Taoiseach agree that she would have a difficulty in monitoring the working of the Act with such prohibitive charges?
That last question is for the Minister for Finance. The first question is appropriate to the Taoiseach.
The Taoiseach will see the context in which I ask them as they relate to his Department. Depending on the number of refusals and appeals——
The Minister for Finance is responsible for the Act.
I appreciate that but the Taoiseach has——
The Taoiseach should reply to the first question.
I do not have the details on these 20 requests. However, since the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act in April 1997, a total of 25 or 2% of requests to my Department have been appealed to the Information Commissioner. In the current period, it is probably smaller. In some cases, people wait a while before they appeal. There were very few appeals, even before the Act was amended.
I asked a question on the Taoiseach's previous reply in July last year when he hinted that the Government might be amenable to reducing the charges from €150——
That does not arise on these four questions.
The Minister for Finance recently stated that he had no plans to amend the charges. The Information Commissioner said the fees issue should be examined the next time it arose. I do not know when that will be.
The Taoiseach will be aware that the Information Commissioner reported that overall usage of the Act had declined by over 50%, while requests for non-personal information had fallen by 75%. In April 2004, the number of requests came to four compared with ten for both 2003 and 2002. From July to December 2002, 71 requests were made to the Department of the Taoiseach, while in 2003, 34 were made. Is the Taoiseach concerned at the decline in the number of applications? Is he concerned that this may be due to the introduction of charges? Does he intend to allow further flexibility on this matter? Without wanting to know the details of the requests, what was the nature of the 20 applications received? Did they concern factual matters related to the Department?
The Information Commissioner said that the issue of fees should be examined when it arises next. Obviously, for personal issues it makes no difference, as I have stated on previous occasions. The fee for appeals has a bearing on requests. However, I believe the standard fee of €15 to be charged in respect of non-personal requests does not deter people. If someone wants information for a purpose, it will not make a great difference and is not a major deterrent. It is a modest fee considering the previous costing of the Act some years ago when salaries were much less and it was €425 per question. It is a modest fee. I do not have the breakdown by category for the 20 requests to my Department. My information is for the generality of requests and covers the past six and a half years. There were 79 freedom of information requests from business, 670 from journalists and 57 from the Oireachtas. Most requests were personal.
Did the Taoiseach say there were 670 requests from journalists?
Yes.
They must want to know what he is doing.
They know. Most freedom of information requests are now of a personal nature.
Will the Taoiseach speak about the implications of the dramatic decline in usage of the Act to make non-personal inquiries, for staffing obligations in his Department and throughout the Civil Service? What has it meant for the workload with which staff previously had to deal?
Dealing with freedom of information requests was always additional to the work of each section. Now that the volume of requests has reduced, people can address other issues. This is probably of help in the context of the strategic management initiative, which requires that we cut our staff over a three year period by 4%. The decrease in the numbers of requests and improvements in technology help to achieve precisely that.
