Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very pleased, as that is the figure I recommended in my Private Members' Bill last year, as the Minister acknowledged. On Second Stage of that Bill I detailed the replies of a parliamentary question to every Department on the maximum and average fee charged for search and retrieval. Some of the averages were approximately €7. One or two exceptional cases were in thousands of euro. My concern was when a requester was told a search and retrieval fee would be €3,000. I put in a request once to the Department of Finance and was told that the search and retrieval fee was €1,200, so I abandoned my request. That is how I have first-hand experience and believe there should be a cap. The Department of Social Protection does not charge a search and retrieval fee, as the overwhelming majority - although not all - information would be personal. It is important that in the code of practice, Departments are told that €500 should not be a standard search and retrieval fee. It should be the cap.