A Fianna Fáil TD has said it is “bizarre” that politicians are denied access to the identities of members of the public who submit Freedom of Information requests on their expenses.

More than 22,000 animals have been euthanised after being used in scientific research at University College Cork in the last three years.

The Department of Justice has been rebuked after 68 files, which it said didn’t exist, between ex-tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald and a PR firm were discovered following an investigation.

RTÉ refused a third of the Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted to the national broadcaster in the first half of this year.

A request under the Freedom of Information Act has been lodged with the Department of Defence in an attempt to establish why a Naval Service ship was delayed by more than three weeks from leaving her base to save migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.

What could you buy with €600,000? A house, and maybe a couple of cars? That’s the price the HSE is quoting to process an Irish Examiner FoI request.

There is hardly a scandal undermining the confidence we can have in public affairs that might not have been avoided if we had a proactive, effective, and respected culture of accountability. 

Documents under the Freedom of Information reveal just over €780,000 was paid out in 30 public liability claims against Kerry County Council in an 18-month period to the end of June last.

Ever since 1991, the release of the state papers has become an annual ritual for the Irish media. Prior to that, they had to look to state papers being released in Britain, or the US to get information on what was happening in this country.

Nama said it is studying yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, which saw it lose its five-year legal battle to prevent information about its functions being made available to members of the public.

The TD who first raised concerns about the sale of SiteServ says civil servants are now delaying her Freedom of Information requests.

The Government has been forced to update its freedom of information website after a security breach.

Most government department websites still told the public yesterday that they must pay €15 for some freedom of information (FOI) requests — three weeks after the charges were dropped.

The response of a local authority to FoI requests on a €1.5m underpass illustrates the difficulties in examining how public monies are spent, writes Investigative Correspondent Conor Ryan.

Dublin City Council ignored a low-cost alternative before it went to the High Court and incurred hefty legal bills attempting to overturn the findings of an investigation by a political ethics body.

THE Freedom of Information Bill 2013 currently at committee stage in the Oireachtas is to be welcomed in terms of its reversal of many of the 2003 amendments, the effect of which had been to seriously curtail the FOI regime.

POLITICIANS hate being forced by public pressure to change their minds, in case it is regarded as weakness. So, they plough on obstinately with an announced course of action, even though they know that it is wrong, and though they are attracting enormous criticism.