Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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569. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the total number of freedom of information requests submitted to her Department in 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024; the total number of such requests that were rejected in their entirety; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37602/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department received a total of 46 Freedom of Information requests in 2022, of which 7 were refused. In 2023 my Department has received a total of 55 Freedom of Information requests, of which 13 were refused. For 2024 to date, my Department has received 70 Freedom of Information requests, of which 17 have been refused.

The refusal of requests occurs for a number reasons. The most common reason is that the requested records do not exist, and such requests are refused under Section 15(1)(a) of the relevant Act. The basis for other refusals are varied, and include, Section 29 (Deliberations of FOI Bodies), Section 30 (Functions and Negotiations of FOI Bodies), Section 35 (Information obtained in confidence) and Section 36 (Commercially Sensitive Information).

For 2022, of the 7 requests refused, 4 were due to no relevant records being held by the Department. For 2023, of the 13 requests refused, 8 were due to no relevant records being held by the Department. For 2024 to date, of the 17 requests refused, 10 were due to no relevant records being held by the Department.

In compliance with the Freedom of Information Publication Scheme my Department publishes, on a quarterly basis, a log of all non-personal Freedom of Information requests received. These logs are available on our website at .

My Department endeavours to deal with all Freedom of Information requests in an open and accessible manner, and is active in assisting requesters to refine their requests where possible to ensure that relevant information can be provided.