Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, together.

To the end of April this year my Department received 206 freedom of information, FOI, requests. Of these, 121 were granted or part granted, 12 were refused and no records were held in relation to 25 requests. Six requests were withdrawn or handled outside FOI, one request was transferred to another public sector body and 41 requests were ongoing at the end of April. There has been a significant increase in the number of FOI requests received in my Department since the new Freedom of Information Act came into operation in 2014. In 2013, my Department received 92 requests while this figure rose to 290 in 2015 and to 344 in 2017. This represented an increase of 374% over 2013 and the upward trend is continuing this year.

The majority of requests submitted to my Department are non-personal requests and come from the media. All requests received in my Department are processed by designated officials in accordance with the FOI Acts. If a requester is not satisfied with an FOI decision, he or she can seek an internal review followed by appeal to the Information Commissioner. The FOI statutory framework keeps the decision-making process at arm's length from the political head of the Department. I have no role in the decision-making process for requests received in my Department nor do I see copies of decision letters issuing.

There are two members of staff working in the Department’s FOI unit, both of whom perform other duties. Staff from across the Department are also involved in processing requests in addition to their routine duties, for example, in relation to searching and retrieving records and making decisions on requests received. At times detailed and complex FOI requests are received which involve significant time and resource implications for the staff involved.

Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 requires each FOI body to prepare and publish a publication scheme. My Department's scheme is published on its website and sets out a range of information about the type of records it holds. My Department also publishes a range of information on a quarterly basis on its website. This includes details of foreign travel expenses, details of invoices paid in excess of €20,000, minutes of the Department’s management advisory committee meetings and a log of non-personal FOI requests.

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