Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I would like to make two comments. When certain activities in FÁS were being investigated recently, the members of the Committee of Public Accounts obtained more relevant information from the individual freedom of information requests they submitted than from the documentation the semi-State body in question furnished to the committee. In other words, less information was supplied on foot of requests from the committee to the agency than was obtained on foot of the freedom of information requests submitted by the members of the committee. Perhaps that justifies the existence of the freedom of information system. As the overseer of that system, the Taoiseach should ensure that State bodies provide the fullest possible information when freedom of information requests are made.

In response to a previous question, the Taoiseach told me that 10,704 freedom of information requests were made to the Office of the Information Commissioner in 2007. That figure represented a reduction of 42% since 2003. The number of requests submitted to the Department of the Taoiseach decreased by 50% over the same time, from 142 in 2003 to 71 in 2007. I do not think people have stopped making requests because they have got all the information they want. The Tenth Report by the Minister for Finance on Freedom of Information, which was published on 28 October 2008, highlighted the shortfalls in the freedom of information system's fee structure. The Information Commission has pointed out that Ireland is one of only two of eight comparable jurisdictions to charge people to make freedom of information appeals. Ontario charges €16 for an appeal, but Ireland charges €150. When the Taoiseach was the Minister for Finance, he dismissed the Information Commissioner's call for a decrease in the fees imposed in respect of freedom of information requests and appeals. The commissioner has described the fees as being part of a "culture of secrecy".

At a time when everybody is demanding transparency and accountability, does the Taoiseach, who has said we should have fair play, have any plans to reconsider the Information Commissioner's request for a review of the fee structure? Fine Gael has proposed that a flat fee of €10 should be imposed in respect of requests, reviews and appeals. We have suggested that appeal fees should be refunded if appeals are successful. Does the Taoiseach think the Government could give its consent to such a change? If a person's appeal to the appeals commissioner is granted, surely the appeal fee should be refunded in recognition of that, or as a consequence of it. Would the Taoiseach agree to that?

See this speech in context