Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2018
734. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of FOI requests his Department has received since January 2018; the number of refusals; the number that have been appealed and that are ongoing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30561/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Freedom of Information (FOI) data requested is set out in the table that follows.
In relation to your request for data concerning appeals, I have included data on both internal reviews carried out within my Department and on appeals to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC). If a requester is not satisfied with the response of my Department to any aspect of his/her request for information he/she can seek to have the decision re-examined. The internal review of an FOI decision is carried out by a more senior member of staff within my Department. Following the outcome of the internal review, if a requester is unhappy with that decision, he/she has the right to appeal the decision to the OIC.
|
Number of FOI..... |
1 January 2018 to 5 July 2018 |
|
Requests received |
214 |
|
Refused |
28 |
|
Ongoing |
43 |
|
Decisions reviewed internally |
20 |
|
Decisions appealed to OIC |
8 |
The figure in the “ongoing” column arises as, under the FOI Act, my Department has in most cases four weeks to make a decision and issue a response. There are also a number of provisions in the FOI Act which allow for the completion of requests outside of the standard four week time frame, including where the request is for a large number of records and the requirement for third party consultation.
