Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of requests under the Freedom of Information Acts received by his Department in each year from 2002 to 2005 and to date in 2006; the amount of money received in request fees for each year; the amount of money received in information retrieval fees for each year; the percentage of requests coming from journalists in each year; the percentage of retrieval fees that were charged to journalists rather than members of the public; the percentage of requests from journalists for which a retrieval fee was charged; the percentage of requests from members of the public for which a retrieval fee was charged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32058/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The number of requests under the Freedom of Information Acts received by my Department in each year from 2002 to 2005 was 204, 153, 62 and 86 respectively. The number of requests received in the first nine months of 2006 was 63.

The amount of money received in up-front request fees for each year between 2003 and 2005 was €285, €585 and €750 respectively. Up-front fees did not apply in 2002, so no such fees were collected in that year. The amount of up-front fees collected in the first 9 months of 2006 was €495.

The amount of money received in respect of search (information retrieval) fees between 2002 and 2005 was €892.76, €616.91, €241.50 and €429.50 respectively. The amount of money received in respect of search fees in the first 9 months of 2006 was €370.92.

The percentage of requests coming from journalists in each of the years between 2002 and 2005 was 38%, 35%, 34% and 45% respectively. The percentage of requests coming from journalists in the first 9 months of 2006 was 24%.

The percentage of retrieval fees that were charged to journalists rather than members of the public between 2002 and 2005 was 58.5%, 68%, 39.8%, and 84%. The equivalent figure for the first 9 months of 2006 is 19.3%.

The percentage of requests from journalists for which a search fee was charged between 2002 and 2005 was 14.2%, 22.6%, 19.0%, and 20.5% respectively. The equivalent figure for the first 9 months of 2006 is 26.6%.

The percentage of requests from members of the public for which a search fee was charged between 2002 and 2005 was 5.1%, 6.3%, 13.5% and 6.9%. The equivalent figure for the first 9 months of 2006 is 28.5%. Members of the public would not be considered to include staff members of the Department or Members of the Oireachtas, each of whom account for a small number of requests.

It should be noted that there is no obligation under the Freedom of Information Act for requesters to identify themselves as journalists or to give any other reason for making a request.

In addition, it should be noted that the Freedom of Information Act obliges decision makers (save in a few limited circumstances) to charge search and retrieval fees where significant search and retrieval of records is involved. The decision to charge a search fee is therefore not a discretionary one, and arises from the scope of a request.