Coalition sees surge in FoI requests

The number of Freedom of Information requests lodged with the Department of Finance to date this year outstrips the entire number of requests made in 2014.

According to figures provided by Finance Minister Michael Noonan to Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen, the number of FoI requests lodged by the end of May totalled 178. This compared to 165 for all of 2014.

The department said extra resources have been made available to deal with the increased workload. The rise in FoI requests follows the Government abolishing the standard €15 application fee for non-personal information requests.

Separate figures provided by Brendan Howlin, the public expenditure and reform minister, show the number of FoI requests lodged with his department totalled 113 by the end of May compared to 110 for the entire of 2014.

There were similarly large hikes at the Departments of An Taoiseach, Health, Defence, Agriculture, Communications, and Natural Resources this year.

Mr Howlin was the driving force behind the Freedom of Information Act 2014, which abolished the upfront fee. He said the rises were likely “once we eliminated all charges”.

“Maybe it is an initial surge — I hope that people will be a little bit more discerning, that there is a purpose behind every application because there is a cost,” he said.

“But I think just to bed down our democracy and to give people confidence in public administration, it was an important step to take and the resources to meet all the requirements in every government department will be provided.”