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.