Written answers
Thursday, 19 October 2006
Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform
Freedom of Information
5:00 pm
Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 125: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform 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 application 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; the average retrieval fee charged; the median retrieval fee charged; the number of cases in which the retrieval fee was waived; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33716/06]
Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The tabular statement outlines the statistical information requested by the Deputy regarding requests received under the Freedom of Information Acts by my Department. The information set out in the following table in relation to fees charged is based on the best information available and may be subject to review.
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 (to 19/10/06) | |
| No. of Requests Received | 660 | 636 | 442 | 433 | 393 |
| Amount of money received in €15 application fee* | — | €990 | €1,440 | €1,665 | €2,030 |
| Amount of money received in Search and Retrieval Fees | €815.81 | €2,995.48 | €748.05 | €1,298.35 | €950.00 |
| % of requests received from journalists | 18% | 19% | 7% | 12% | 25% |
| % of search and retrieval fees charged to journalists rather than *other requesters | 50% | 55% | 29% | 42% | 68% |
| % of requests from journalists in which search and retrieval were charged | 8% | 13% | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| % of requests from **other requesters for which a search and retrieval fee was charged | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Average retrieval fee charged (as opposed to received) | €555.74 | €571.36 | €314.33 | €299.05 | €328.35 |
| Median retrieval fee charged (as opposed to received) | €1,052.64 | €1,061.40 | €314.33 | €441.05 | €609.73 |
| No. of cases in which the retrieval fee was waived | — | — | — | — | — |
| *Application Fees only were applied since July 2003 | |||||
| **Other requesters are considered all requesters other than journalists |
My Department is committed to the full implementation of the Freedom of Information Acts.
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