Government failed to inform body of FoI charges

THE GOVERNMENT failed to consult with or inform the information commissioner it intended to introduce upfront fees for Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, it emerged yesterday.

New charges were controversially introduced earlier this summer making the initial up-front cost of a non-personal FoI request €15. However, in a move critics say has effectively undermined the entire Act, higher charges for appeals mean a request that goes for final decision by the information commissioner will attract a total fee of €150.

Commissioner Emily O’Reilly, who had just taken up the post, also publicly stated the charges were likely to function as a deterrent to the use of the Act.

Already the total number of FoI requests for all departments in the three months following the enactment of the curtailed FoI Act is 29% down on the previous three months.

Now documents obtained by Fine Gael under the FOI Act support the party’s claims the Government was in breach of its own procedural guidelines in the way it introduced the new fees.

In a letter written to the Department of Finance on July 3 just after the announcement of the introduction of fees, the director general of the office of the information commissioner, Pat Whelan, is highly critical of the way in which fees were railroaded through without any consultation.

“As a body directly affected by these regulations, it is reasonable to expect we might have been consulted,” Mr Whelan wrote.

“Even where the minister chose not to consult this office, it would be reasonable to expect that we would be given adequate advance notice to make arrangements for handling appeal fees and to familiarise staff with the new charging regime,” he added.

“At the very least, and as a matter of courtesy, it would be reasonable to expect the commissioner might have been given some advance notice of the regulations.”

Mr Whelan also states “critical points of good practice” identified in the Taoiseach’s own Towards Better Regulation document were not acted on in making the FoI Regulations.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the FoI Act was now a dead force compared to its former self.

“By the end of this year I predict usage of the FoI Act will be dramatically reduced,” he said.

“This latest revelation is yet another indication the FF/PD government is intent on strangling the operation of the Freedom of Information Act. As a result of the changes introduced by this Government the FoI Act will be dead and buried by the end of 2003,” Mr Kenny said.