Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

With regard to Deputy Mary Lou McDonald's question, it is important that an FOI body be in a position to refuse certain FOI requests on administrative grounds. The ability to refuse a request on set administrative grounds is not a new provision but has been in the legislation since 1997. The Information Commissioner specifically supports the provision. The outgoing commissioner made this clear. There needs to be a clear administrative basis for making a refusal.

The question on frivolous or vexatious requests arises in respect of a number of legal instruments. There are definitions that we can provide. I am advised that there are very few occasions on which the measures on frivolous or vexatious requests are invoked. Clearly, a vexatious or malicious request is manifest when it is manifest. All these matters are subject to appeal to the Information Commissioner if the determination is not reasonable.