MANY local authorities would rather rhyme off regulations than release information, according the Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy.
There is a culture of withholding information within local authorities, Mr Murphy told a convention in Dublin on quality in local government.
He was describing the experience of his office in dealing with complaints from the public against local authorities. Complaints doubled between 1988 and 1995, he said. Most of them related to housing allocations, planning, service charges and, since 1994, access to information on the environment.
It was here the public experienced a reluctance on the part of the local authorities to release information, he said.
"In our experience, many local authorities look for reasons in the regulations for not releasing information."
When dealing with complaints that information on the environment had been withheld, the Ombudsman's office adopted a "harm test", he said.
"This test takes the form that if the release of information is not expressly excluded by the regulations, what harm, if any, would it do to release it?"
Given the forthcoming Freedom of Information Act and the growing concern of citizens with the standards of service they receive, it was in the interests of the local authorities to examine procedures and improve standards of public administration, he concluded.
Referring to the unions' response to attempts to improve the service, Mr Peter McLoone, general secretary of Impact, said the necessary partnership in this area required trust.