FoI charges a backward step, says ombudsman

THE Government came in for renewed criticism from Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly last night over its radical restriction of the Freedom of Information Act.

Addressing the European Institute of Public Affairs Ms O’Reilly said the accountability of public bodies had been diminished.

“The FoI Act and the progressive scale of the charges for requests will place new limits on the degree of access to official information. And the danger is accountability of public bodies to the public generally will thus be curtailed,” she said.

Referring to the Government’s decision to begin charging up-front fees for all non-personal requests, Ms O’Reilly, in her first public speech as ombudsman, said there was no doubt the new charges would dissuade some from seeking information. “I have little doubt the scale of charges will prove a massive disincentive to accessing what is a right,” she said.

Up-front fees of €15 are now required to process an initial application andwhile a fee of €75 is now charged for an internal appeal. The charge for an appeal to the information commissioner now costs €150, bringing the total price of non-personal information to €240 before search fees are added.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny last night welcomed the comments and renewed a call for the Government to reconsider the charges. “I hope in the light of these comments the Government will now reconsider the introduction of fees,” he said.

Ms O’Reilly said Ireland could, until recently, be proud of the right of access to Government information it offered to its citizens. “The Freedom of Information Act was acclaimed as one of the best pieces of legislation of its type,” she said. But that had all changed now with the introduction of more restrictive criteria.

The ombudsman said the debate on rights-based disability legislation with a guarantee enforceable by the courts reflected a lack of confidence in the Government. Ms O’Reilly said the situation herecontrasted sharply with that of Britain where government departments and public bodies introduced codes of practice governing redress for maladministration.