Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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337. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of freedom of information requests submitted to his Department in 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024; the total number of such requests that were rejected in their entirety; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37589/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has received, and responded to a total 998 Freedom of Information requests from 2022 to date. Of these 998 requests, 252 were refused in their entirety. The full breakdown by year is provided in tabular form.

In order to allow FOI bodies to properly conduct their business, it will sometimes be necessary to exempt from release, certain types of information in some circumstances. Exemptions are either mandatory or discretionary. These are set out in the Act.

Among the key exemptions are records relating to:

• Government meetings.
• Confidential and commercially sensitive information.
• Personal information (other than information relating to the person making the request).

  Year	Requests Received	Requests Refused
  2022	368	94
  2023	392	109
  2024 to date	238	49
  Total	998	252