Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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88. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide information indicating the performance of each Department in responding to freedom of information, FOI, requests in each of the years 2011 to 2014 and in 2015 to date; if he has identified any area where additional resources may be required; if he is satisfied that the spirit of openness sought by the introduction of FOI legislation has been achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33507/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy may wish to note that information on the performance of all FOI bodies under the Freedom of Information Act is collated and analysed by the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) and published every year in the OIC Annual Reports which are available at www.oic.gov.ie.

An overview of the numbers of FOI requests received by Government Departments for the years referred to in the Deputy's question are set out in the table below.  The OIC Annual Reports for each of the years in question provide more extensive detail in relation to FOI, broken down by individual Department, along with further analysis of the FOI data.

FOI requests received by Government Departments

* The figures for 2015 (to June) have been collected by my Department in respect of all Government Departments and are provisional figures

In terms of the resources allocated to dealing with FOI requests, under the FOI legislation the responsibility for the operation of FOI in each individual FOI body rests with the head of that body which, in the case of a Government Department is the relevant Minister. Under the Act, each Minister is responsible for ensuring that appropriate measures are taken by public bodies under his or her aegis with regard to the organisational arrangements and the training of staff necessary to facilitate the efficient processing of FOI requests.

To provide support and assistance to FOI bodies in the performance of their duties under the Act, I published a Code of Practice for FOI Bodies in tandem with the enactment of the FOI Act 2014, to promote best practice in the operation of FOI.  My Department has also put in place a single FOI Training Framework which provides a panel of trainers from which all FOI bodies can procure quality-assured training in a consistent and cost-effective manner and which covers all aspects of processing requests.  This is in addition to the support provided to FOI bodies on my Department's web-site in the form of manuals and guidance on dealing with FOI requests.  There are also established FOI Networks in place which have proven to be an excellent means of sharing learning and expertise, assisting in the development of common approaches and facilitating the transfer of learning between FOI bodies.

The Deputy also refers to the spirit of openness promoted by the FOI Act 2014.  I would like to draw the Deputy's attention to Section 11 of the Act which specifically requires an FOI body, in performing any function under the Act, to have regard to the need to achieve greater openness in its activities and to promote adherence by them to the principle of transparency in government and public affairs.  The effective repeal of the majority of restrictions on FOI introduced in 2003, with the resultant access to an increased number of records under FOI has also, in itself, resulted in an increase in openness by FOI bodies.  Furthermore, I have also just concluded a public consultation on a Model Publication Scheme for FOI, which I propose to publish next month.  This Scheme will bring about more proactive publication of information by public bodies and will further support FOI bodies in adopting a greater degree of transparency and accountability in their operations.