Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 144: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of freedom of information requests made to his Department in 2005, 2006, 2007 and to date in 2008; the number of rejections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38461/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The following tabular statement is a statistical breakdown of the Freedom of Information Requests processed by my Department over the past four years.

It is the policy of my Department to make all requests and replies made under the Freedom of Information Act, which are not of a personal nature, publicly available. The Freedom of Information Requests Database is available on the website of my Department and contains copies of the non-personal requests made since April 2004 to date. The website of the Department of Foreign Affairs is www.dfa.ie.

In addition to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act, my Department responds to requests for information, outside of the Acts, on a regular basis. My Department also assists members of the public to formulate their requests in order to ensure that accurate information in a user friendly format is provided to the requesting party.

In addition, there are currently 10 requests pending response.