O’Reilly calls for cut in FOI fees as requests drop by 50%

IRELAND’S information watchdog has called for a reduction in fees for Freedom of Information requests after she revealed applications were down by 50% since their imposition.

Information Commissioner Emily O’Reilly told the Dáil Finance sub-committee the fees were not even meeting the €15,000 spent on collecting them and were endangering the operation of the act.

She said she would be disappointed if some charges under the act, which were introduced by Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy, were not reduced.