Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 January 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

3:10 pm

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I understand the Deputy's principled position on this matter. As I have said, this is simply couching. It is one thing to speak in a theoretical way, but it is another thing to actually provide for a practical regime that does not over-burden systems, such as the local government system, that are already under pressure. If one wanted to make a point about some aspect of the local government system - I am not suggesting one would do so maliciously - one could submit never-ending freedom of information requests, which would impose a significant administrative burden on the system. That is just a practical consideration. I would be interested to hear the committee's views, on a cross-party and collective basis, on whether the principle of a no-fee regime would be a superior requirement. We have looked at this carefully. At the beginning, our general disposition was to have a no-fee regime. As I have said, my own discernment as of now is that a fee of 4% of the actual cost of the work that needs to be done is a tokenistic one. It is like the argument in favour of a prescription charge, which started in Britain before migrating here. People will beat me up for introducing that matter into the debate. The argument was that any charge at all focuses people's attention on the fact that a real cost is associated with the service - it is not all free. I am willing to hear the committee's view on the matter. I think the balance I have suggested is reasonable. It involves a modest initial fee of 4% of the average actual cost in 2011, with a significant reduction in the cost of appeals. The fact that an appeal can cost €150 makes it prohibitive for people to go further. I do not think that is fair. That is why I am proposing a substantial reduction in that area.

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