Public bodies will have to publish pay details under draft FoI plan

Public bodies that fall under Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation will be required to routinely publish a range of details, such as pay structures, under draft measures from Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin.

Mr Howlin has asked for public submissions on the proposals ahead of the closure of a consultation period next Monday, including what type of information should be published routinely.

“FoI bodies should publish as much information as possible in an open and accessible manner on a routine basis outside of FoI, having regard to the principles of openness, transparency and accountability,” Mr Howlin said.

Model scheme

The new measures, called a model publication scheme, would require bodies subject to FoI to proactively publish certain information without having to wait for information requests from individuals under FoI.

“The purpose is to commit FoI bodies to making much more information available as part of their normal business activities in accordance with the scheme, thus allowing for the giving of records outside of FoI, provided that such publication or giving of access is not prohibited by law,” Mr Howlin added.

Under draft measures drawn up by the department, the information that would be published routinely includes organisational information such as corporate plans and strategies, pay and grading structures and customer charters.