Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 6: To ask the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information requests received by his Department since January 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24247/05]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 7: To ask the Taoiseach the total amount in fees relating to freedom of information requests received by his Department since January 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24522/05]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 8: To ask the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information requests made to his Department to date in 2005; the number acceded to; the way in which this compares to a comparable period in 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25211/05]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Taoiseach the number of applications received under the Freedom of Information Act 1997 in the first nine months of 2005; the way in which this compares with the figures for the same period in 2002, 2003 and 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26562/05]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 10: To ask the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information requests acceded to by his Department since January 2005; the number for the period January to end of September 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27688/05]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 10, inclusive, together.

I propose to circulate in the Official Report the information requested by the Deputies on the figures regarding freedom of information applications received in my Department. From 1 January 2005, €825 was received in respect of application fees and €35 was received in respect of search and retrieval fees. All freedom of information applications to my Department are processed by statutorily designated officials in accordance with the 1997 and 2003 Acts and, in accordance with those statutes, I have no role in the processing of individual applications.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Will the Taoiseach consider renaming the freedom of information legislation the tax on information legislation?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That is a matter for the Minister for Finance.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach can convey the sentiment. Is the Taoiseach aware of the response to the downgrading of the freedom of information legislation as is seen in fewer requests? This was expressed by the Democracy Commission which recently published its report.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy's question refers specifically to freedom of information requests made to the Taoiseach's Department in 2005. General questions on the Freedom of Information Act, as the Deputy knows, are a matter for the Minister for Finance, and the Deputy should submit questions to that Minister.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I will comply rigorously with the Ceann Comhairle's guidance. Does the Taoiseach accept that the information being sought, perhaps by a journalist, at a cost of €150 per request could well cost a great deal if a number of requests must be made to pursue a line of inquiry? Does he accept that if it costs €450 for three requests or, perhaps, €600 for a further request, that is excessive?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That is a matter for the Minister for Finance.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach has to deal with this given that requests are made to his Department.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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I ask the Deputy to obey the Chair's ruling on the matter.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I am endeavouring to, a Cheann Comhairle.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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You are not, Deputy. You are going well outside the question. This question refers specifically to requests to the Taoiseach's Department.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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That is exactly what I am discussing, a Cheann Comhairle.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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It has nothing to do with the general rules governing freedom of information requests.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I am talking about requests to the Taoiseach's Department and it may well cost €600 to secure the information.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That is a matter for the Minister for Finance.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I ask that question in the public interest. It applies to the Taoiseach's Department.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to my Department, the fees for the year to date are €825 and €35 in respect of search and retrieval fees. I cannot answer for other Departments, although I do not believe they are different from mine, but in my Department there is no cost for personal information, follow up on personal information or appeal on personal information. The cost is €15 with regard to anybody else. I do not know what line of questioning the Deputy is following because that is not the cost of a freedom of information request.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Are there any bodies under the aegis of the Taoiseach's Department to which the Act has not yet been extended? Does the Government plan to extend it to the Garda Síochána?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It has been extended to a number of organisations but I cannot recall them now. It is a long list. With regard to my Department, to the best of my knowledge all the agencies are covered. If not, I will let the Deputy know which ones are not.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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What about the Garda Síochána?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That does not arise under the Taoiseach's Department. There are other ways of raising that.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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You have almost made the Taoiseach redundant in this House, a Cheann Comhairle.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy Ó Caoláin.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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And me along with him.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I wonder how far I will get. Is the National Treatment Purchase Fund to be included, before the Ceann Comhairle rules me out of order?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Ó Caoláin.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I know. I saved you saying it, a Cheann Comhairle.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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If the Deputies are not happy with the Standing Orders as they apply, they know how to change them.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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With regard to the statistics, what is the Taoiseach's response to the Information Commissioner, who has stated that the decline in usage of the Act has gone far beyond what the Government envisaged when it decided to introduce fees? These are statistical questions. Does the Taoiseach agree with the Information Commissioner? Will he, therefore, strengthen the Act——

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That is a matter for the Minister for Finance. The Deputy is well aware of the fact that this issue refers specifically to the Taoiseach's Department.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I am trying to work within the restrictions.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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I suggest that the Deputy submit a question to the Minister for Finance and then there would be ample opportunity to raise these questions.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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On the Taoiseach's position and that of his Department, does he hold with the Information Commissioner's view as to why there has been a steady decline in the use of the Freedom of Information Act to access information from his Department? Surely that applies.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I noted the points which the Information Commissioner highlighted in her report of last year on the operation of the Act. My understanding was that she was more concerned about the costs of appeal to her office than about the €15 application fee, which is generally not seen as a large amount. It is important to point out there is no charge for the time undertaken in making a decision on a freedom of information request and most other jurisdictions impose such a charge in addition to the application fee.

It is important to note that a person who appeals to the commissioner receives a preliminary decision, which is a good indication of the likely final decision. Even at that stage of the process, the requester can withdraw the appeal and obtain a full refund of the fees.

With regard to the cost of appeal to the Information Commissioner, practice differs internationally. For example, while a fee of approximately €360 is charged by the Australian Government, regional states in Australia do not charge for an appeal to the commissioner.

In the case of my Department, the reality is that the main change has occurred at the application stage. It is unclear whether that is due to the introduction of an application fee or a working through of pent-up demand in the early years, which I believe is the reason. No doubt fees have had an impact but I do not believe that in the case of my Department the size of an application fee of €15 is the reason for that. As I have outlined, not many of these from my Department go to appeal. A small number of applications go to appeal. I do not believe the fee is the difficulty. No doubt the Minister for Finance will look carefully at any points that the commissioner makes.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I note that prior to the date when the fees were introduced, the rate of requests to the Taoiseach's Department was running at 17 per month and, since that date, the rate has dropped to four per month. Less than a quarter of the earlier number of requests is being made. Were those other 13 requests per month frivolous? Did the Taoiseach's Secretary General advise that there were many frivolous requests for information that were extremely costly? When the Taoiseach went to consider this issue at Cabinet, as he undoubtedly did, was he armed with a great deal of information about the frivolity with which people were treating this in his Department? I note he stated in his reply that his Department does not charge the €75 internal review fee.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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No, we do if there is an internal review. The upfront fee is €15. Not many requests go to appeal. There are not many requests for an internal review. We give the information and then one does not get into that process.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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What is the Taoiseach's policy on the €75 review fee? In how many instances has the decision gone the whole way, where the person has had to go to the Information Commissioner to appeal his Department's decisions? In such cases, €230, which is non-refundable, becomes the total cost of the request. Is that a frequent occurrence in the Taoiseach's Department?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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In my Department, out of a total of 1,143 freedom of information requests received to date, 94 were received for internal review. As I stated earlier, the personal cases, which many of these would be, would not be covered. In my Department, since the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act seven and a half years ago, a total of 13 requests have been investigated by the Information Commissioner. We are talking about 1% or thereabouts.

In case I confused the Deputy, we charge for the internal review of non-personal cases. There is not a high number of such cases. We try to satisfy the respondents in the first case to avoid that decision.

On the Deputy's first question, there were definitely a small number of individuals, either acting for themselves or acting as agents and trying to make a business out of this, who were submitting a significant number of freedom of information requests in the early years. Many requests arose because this was the first time freedom of information was available and people wanted to know details about the past, about process and about systems. There are only so many such questions. People wanted to find out about internal reviews for promotion and what happened in various internal circumstances relating to human resource issues. Once answered, such requests are answered. There is no great change or difference about those. People wanted information on circulars and what circulars governed procurement issues, contract issues and so on. Requests for such information are not repeated once the requests are fulfilled.

On the changes made to the Act in 2003, the status quo was maintained on the ten-year rule for release of Cabinet records. No Secretary General certificates have been issued and no designated Cabinet working papers have been certified. In the case of protection for inter-ministerial communications relating to Cabinet discussions, it can reasonably be said to have had a significant impact on the volume of freedom of information requests. None of the other areas saw changes. Therefore, it cannot be any of these areas. It is hardly due to the initial cost. That is my view of it.