Freedom of Information

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 July 2020

Wednesday, 29 July 2020

Ceisteanna (265)

Mairéad Farrell

Ceist:

265. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of freedom of information requests being processed by her Department; the number that have had the deadline for reply extended; the number at least one week, two weeks, one month and more than one month overdue, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19355/20]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table. Due to the timeframe for processing requests under the FOI Act, there will always be a number of live cases on hand at the end of each month which are carried forward.  This also applies to cases on hand at the end of each year which have to be finalised in the following calendar year.

	2020 (YTD 30/06/2020)
No. FOI requests received	422
No. of requests with time extensions applied	150

It has not been possible to provide the further detail sought by the Deputy at this time. I will arrange to have this information forwarded to the Deputy under separate cover.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51

I refer to Parliamentary Question (Ref No: 265 for written answer on 29 July 2020, where you sought information regarding the handling of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests by my Department.

While certain information was provided in the answer at the time, further details were not yet available, and I indicated that I would provide these details when they had been compiled. This information is now set out in the following table.

The data in the appendix refers to 2020. It is important to note that COVID-19 presents particular challenges in respect of the processing of FOI requests. My Department has introduced a range of measures to enable continuity of services and to enable staff continue working safely.

These measures have included the closure of several of our public facing offices and the introduction of remote working for the majority of staff. These measures have unavoidably had an impact on the Department’s ability to access records and process FOI requests quickly during this period. The Department is conscious of the potential inconvenience that may be caused to some requesters, and endeavours to facilitate requesters wherever possible.

Appendix: FOI Requests received by the Department of Justice and Equality to date in 2020:

	2020 (YTD 30/06/2020)
Volume of Requests and Extensions Applied
FOI requests received during 2020 or carried over from 2019	422
— Time extensions applied to such requests	150
Timeliness of Responses
No. of requests delivered on time	145
No. of requests less than one week overdue	41
No. of requests at least one week overdue	18
No. of requests at least two weeks overdue	15
No. of requests at least one month overdue	4
No. of requests over one month overdue	37