Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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354. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is satisfied in the context of the freedom of information publication scheme that all logs are published and up to date in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2014; if not, the reason they are not published; and if she will update them as a matter of priority. [36131/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Department processes a large number of Freedom of Information requests annually, with 2,614 and 1,706 requests received in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

The Department is in compliance with the FOI Code of Practice which states that disclosure logs in relation to non-personal requests should be published on a regular basis.

The FOI disclosure log on behalf of the Department up to end of 2020 is published on www.gov.ie/en/collection/004d91-foi-disclosure-log/

I am advised that the Department has completed the Q1 2021 disclosure log and it will be published on gov.ie shortly.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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355. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount collected on an annual basis since the Freedom of Information Act 2014 commenced in respect of fees attached to freedom of information requests submitted to her Department. [36149/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The table below outlines the amount collected on an annual basis since the Freedom of Information Act 2014 was enacted in October of that year in respect of fees attached to Freedom of Information requests submitted to my Department.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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356. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of freedom of information requests refused by her Department since the Freedom of Information Act 2014 commenced for the reason that search and copy costs would exceed the maximum threshold; the number of requests that were subsequently granted following engagement with the requester to narrow the scope of the request; and the costs associated with same. [36167/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The total number of requests under the Freedom of Information Acts received in the period from October 2014 (when the 2014 Act commenced) to 2020 is 15,744. Of those, 1,168 were refused under the Acts.

The number of Freedom of Information requests refused by my Department for the years 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021 have been reviewed. This review shows that four requests have been refused for the search, retrieval and copying costs exceeding the maximum ceiling under the Acts during this period.

The number of Freedom of Information requests from October 2014 to the end of 2018 which were refused for the same reason is not readily available. However, given that only four were refused for this reason in a 2.5 year period, it is highly likely that this figure would also be low for the previous four year period.

Officials in the Department operate in the spirit of the Freedom of Information Acts. Officials occasionally contact requesters if the FOI request is vague. Requesters welcome this engagement as often the record they are seeking would not be retrieved by the original request. This dialogue between requesters and decision-makers under the FOI Acts is an iterative process and not captured in the statistical data kept by the Department.