Written answers
Tuesday, 10 July 2018
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Freedom of Information Requests
Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
734. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of FOI requests his Department has received since January 2018; the number of refusals; the number that have been appealed and that are ongoing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30561/18]
Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
The Freedom of Information (FOI) data requested is set out in the table that follows.
In relation to your request for data concerning appeals, I have included data on both internal reviews carried out within my Department and on appeals to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC). If a requester is not satisfied with the response of my Department to any aspect of his/her request for information he/she can seek to have the decision re-examined. The internal review of an FOI decision is carried out by a more senior member of staff within my Department. Following the outcome of the internal review, if a requester is unhappy with that decision, he/she has the right to appeal the decision to the OIC.
Number of FOI..... | 1 January 2018 to 5 July 2018 |
---|---|
Requests received | 214 |
Refused | 28 |
Ongoing | 43 |
Decisions reviewed internally | 20 |
Decisions appealed to OIC | 8 |
The figure in the “ongoing” column arises as, under the FOI Act, my Department has in most cases four weeks to make a decision and issue a response. There are also a number of provisions in the FOI Act which allow for the completion of requests outside of the standard four week time frame, including where the request is for a large number of records and the requirement for third party consultation.
No comments