Section 27 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 Act relates to fees and charges. Among the key reforms of the FOI Act was the removal of the requirement to pay up-front fees for making FOI requests to public bodies and the significant reduction in the cost of applying for internal reviews and appeals to the Information Commissioner.
In addition, in relation to non-personal requests, a minimum threshold of €101 was introduced below which no search, retrieval and copying fees can be charged. This means that if a request is focused and takes no longer than 5 hours to search for, retrieve and copy the records, the requests will be processed free of charge. Furthermore a cap of €500 was placed on the amount of search, retrieval and copying fees that can be charged (approx. 25 hours being spent on search and retrieval); and a further upper limit at €700 (which corresponds to 35 hours being spent on search and retrieval) above which an FOI body can refuse to process a request, unless the requester is prepared to refine the request to bring the charges below the limit. The Act also provides for public bodies to assist requesters if the requester wishes to amend or limit the requests concerned in order to reduce or eliminate such charges.
Records which contain only personal information relating to the requester (including requests under Section 37(8)) remain free of charge (other than where the grant concerned relates to a significant number of records and in such cases, the means of the requester must be taken in account).
I consider that these reforms have had a key impact on the number of requests submitted with over 30,000 requests made in 2016 compared to around 10,000 in 2007 and with a 400% increase of non-personal requests in that period.
I, as Minister, have no role in monitoring or policing the individual decisions of FOI Bodies, including in relation to fees. Where a decision is made to charge a fee, the requester has the right to seek a review of that decision by the Information Commissioner and there is no fee payable for that review. Of around 400 reviews referred to the Commissioner in 2016, only 4 (or 1%) related to decisions to charge a fee.
To support the effective implementation of FOI by FOI Bodies, the FOI Central Policy Unit (CPU) at my Department provides a range of support and guidance. It oversees a training framework to ensure consistency in standards and approach which has seen over 8,600 participants receiving training and also provides a website, www.foi.gov.ie and helpdesk and has presented at a number of conferences and training events. Networks for FOI Bodies have been established which provide an excellent means of sharing learning and expertise, assisting in the development of common approaches and facilitating the transfer of learning between FOI bodies. With particular reference to fees and charges, the CPU has published both Manuals on the processing of requests and a specific Guidance Note on Fees and Charges (CPU Notice 6) in order to assist Bodies in making decisions on fees. These are available on www.foi.gov.ie.
