Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy asked a number of questions about the type of applications which are made. A majority of the applications received by the Department of the Taoiseach comes from journalists. The second biggest percentage of applications comes from members of the public. Very few sections in the Department are excluded under the legislation. The last examination by the joint committee of the non-disclosure provisions under section 32 of the Freedom of Information Act 1997 related to two areas of legislation. It was recommended that section 8(4) of the National Archives Act 1986 be included in the Freedom of Information Act and that Part V — sections 32 to 35, inclusive — of the Statistics Act 1993 continue to be excluded from the Act. In her report, the Information Commissioner indicated that she agrees with the recommendations. They are the only two that are excluded. All of the other legislative areas in the Acts are covered.

The Department of the Taoiseach has received almost 1,200 freedom of information requests to date. Just 98 requests have been received for internal review. Approximately 1% of that has been investigated by the Information Commissioner. A small number of Acts are referred to the Information Commissioner. A sum of money is paid during the Information Commissioner process. The Information Commissioner produces a provisional report in the first instance. In the provisional report, one can more or less see what the answer is going to be. One can still claim a refund at that stage. There are no difficulties in cases in which people want to claim back the money. Difficulties arise only in the small number of cases which go the entire way. It is a quasi-judicial process. Such cases involve a large amount of expenditure. It is estimated that each ordinary freedom of information case involves costs of just €475. Cases which go to the Information Commission are far more costly.

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