Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 75: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the practice of some State agencies of not responding to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1997, thereby forcing persons seeking information to pay an additional non-refundable fee of €70 to instigate an appeal in order to satisfy their requests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35101/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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My attention has not been drawn to the practice referred to by the Deputy and I have no evidence that such a practice exists. Guidelines issued by my Department in relation to FOI fees make it clear that there should be no charge for appeals of the type described by the Deputy.

Section 41 of the Freedom of Information, FOI, Acts 1997 and 2003 provides that a decision to refuse a request for information is deemed to have been made if the public body fails to respond to the request within the required timescale. This entitles the requester to apply for an internal review. Guidelines on FOI fees which have been issued in the form of central policy unit notice number 11 advise public bodies to exempt an internal review application arising from a deemed decision. The text of CPU notice 11 is available on www.foi.gov.ie.

If the Deputy considers that a fee has been charged in a case where section 41 applies, I suggest he advise the person affected to bring these guidelines to the attention of the relevant public body. While it may arise from time to time that a public body has difficulty meeting the tight timescales for responding to a request for information, I am satisfied that there is a high level of compliance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Acts generally. This has been shown in investigations undertaken by the Information Commissioner in 2001 and in 2004.