Bodies removed from FOI - O'Reilly

Information Commissioner Emily O’Reilly has again called for the removal of fees for Freedom of Information requests and for the inclusion of the Garda files in the legislation.

Ms O’Reilly also said it was “worrying” that some public bodies were no longer covered under FOI legislation and called on the Government to urgently review the matter.

It is ten years since the FOI legislation was introduced in Ireland and five years since it was amended to introduce a charge for information.

Speaking at the launch of her Annual Report for 2007 today, Ms O’Reilly said: “I still believe that a reversal of those changes would be a good thing, particularly with regard to the removal of fees”.

She said she was “heartened” by the call on Monday from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the fees to be removed. The OECD’s review of the Irish public service, published on Monday, recommends that “up-front” fees for FOI requests be dropped.

The review also said the Government should reduce barriers to public information by making all requests under the Freedom of Information Act

In her report, Ms O’Reilly restates her concern that certain public bodies remain outside the FOI Act. These include the Garda, the Garda Ombudsman Commission, the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, the Office of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, and the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board.

The Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland, the National Treasury Management Agency, the National Pension Reserve Fund Commission, and the State Claims Agency, as well as 33 Vocational Educational Committees, the State Examinations Commission, the Residential Institutions Redress Board, and the Central Applications Office, are also not covered by the FOI act.

Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly

She said that other bodies had been removed from the scope of the legislation and so it is no longer possible to request information from the.

The report cites the Road Safety Authority (RSA) as an example of one such body. Records once held by the Department of Transport were transferred, on the establishment of the RSA under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, to the new body. the report says.

The Property Registration Authority, established under the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006, took over the functions of the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds. As these new bodies are not yet prescribed bodies for the purposes of the FOI Act, their records are not accessible under the Act.

“The removal of public bodies for significant periods of time, or of particular functions which were previously covered by the Act, is a particularly worrying development,” Ms O’Reilly said in her report. She suggested that new public bodies should be automatically covered by the FOI legislation once they are set up or by the Minister for Finance who could make an order to coincide with the setting up of a new body.

“Given the number of new bodies being established each year, and an emerging trend whereby existing functions are being moved to new bodies, I now consider it urgent that this matter be addressed”, she added.

The number of FOI requests made to public bodies in 2007 was 10,704, representing a decrease of 9 per cent from the 2006, when 11,804 requests were made. The number of requests fell by 27 per cent between 2005 and last year.

There were 7,558 requests for personal information in 2007, representing a decrease of 8 per cent on the previous year. The majority of requests were made by ordinary members of the public or representative organisations (80%), while journalists (8%), businesses (6%), staff of public bodies (5%), and members of the Oireachtas (1%) make up the other categories of requester.

The percentage of requests made by journalists has fallen from the 10 per cent level of last year, and compares unfavourably with the 20 per cent of requests submitted by journalists in 2001.