Ombudsman planning to review FOI charges

The Office of the Information Commissioner and Ombudsman is to review the fees system introduced last April under the controversial amendment of the Freedom of Information Act.

Ms Emily O'Reilly told the Public Affairs Irelandconference in Dublin today her office would look into the rates applicants are charged for access to information. Initial requests cost €15, an internal departmental appeal costs €75, while an appeal to the Ombudsman's office incurs a €150 fee.

"The scale of these charges may act as a disincentive to many people in exercising their right to information and, where necessary, to an independent appeals mechanism," Ms O'Reilly argued.

She said she "very much regrets" her office was not consulted by the Department of Finance about the raising of fees or the other amendments. She said she would be conducting a review of the charges, saying she favoured "a more well-considered charging regime". Her office does not have the power, however, to impose a new fees system.

Fine Gael released figures earlier this week showing FOI requests had dropped by over 50 per cent since the act was amended. The Information Commissioner said that while it was still too early to accurately measure the effect of increased charges, "it is still safe to assume that the introduction of fees has led to, or will lead to, a fall off in usage of FOI".

The Freedom of Information Act was introduced for Government departments in April 1998. It has since been broadened to include health boards and almost 400 public service bodies. Ms O'Reilly said the act has helped to put paid to the "culture of secrecy" that prevailed within Government in the past.

It was amended in April this year, to much "wailing and gnashing of teeth", Ms O'Reilly said. The most controversial aspect of the amendment was the tightening of access to information about Government decisions. The right of access to Government records has been pushed back from five to ten years and communications between Ministers or certain committees relating to a matter before Government are now protected.

Ms O'Reilly also said that despite the public impression that journalists were the principle users of the act, the reality is only 12 per cent of all applications came from the media.

She cited the case of the Abbotstown Sports Ireland complex and the controversy surrounding the Laffoy Commission as areas where the use of the Act had exposed information of major public importance that may otherwise have remained hidden.