Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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769. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of freedom of information requests received by his Department relating to Irish Water since 1 January 2014; the number of these that were completed, on time, after an extra requested period; the number that were not completed in either of these timeframes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14068/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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My Department received fifty Freedom of Information requests relating to Irish Water in the period 1 January 2014 to 10 April 2015. Of those requests, twenty three were answered within the statutory timeframe. A further ten were completed within an extended period, which was required for additional consideration of the request and which was notified to the requestor. Fourteen requests were answered outside the timeframes and three requests are currently being processed.

While every effort is made within my Department to respond to requests as promptly as possible, it is sometimes necessary to extend the period for processing of requests due to reasons such as the need for third party consultation or the volume of material to be examined.