Disputed data requests taking years to finalise

PEOPLE making Freedom of Information (FoI) requests are waiting on average three years for answers where their application is disputed.

Figures presented yesterday show that where a request is turned down and appealed to the Information Commissioner, the waiting time for a decision on whether they should get all, some or none of the information they seek increased from 10 months in 1999 to 35 months last year.

Professor Maeve McDonagh of the law faculty at University College Cork said the waiting times did not include cases that were appealed further to the courts and she warned applicants could be put off pursuing requests.

“One consequence of delays in the system of external review is that they deter people from bringing appeals in the first place,” she said.

“Another potential consequence is that public bodies could be tempted to refuse requests on spurious grounds, secure in the knowledge that even if the matter is successfully appealed, the information will be so out of date by the time it emerges it will be likely to be worthless.”

A conference marking 10 years of FoI law in Ireland heard some 130,000 FoI requests had been handled by public bodies over that period, of which 5,300 were appealed.

Information commissioner Emily O’Reilly, whose office deals with appeals, said the biggest deterrent to using the legislation lay in the fees introduced in 2003.

In 1999, when just 67 public bodies were subject to FoI and the process was free, a total of 11,531 requests were received, but by 2007, despite the fact that the act covered 520 bodies, only 10,704 requests were made.

Blanket exemptions for security, foreign affairs and defence issues introduced in 2003 had also been a factor, she said.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said it was “too simplistic” to blame the introduction of fees for the drop in requests.

“One of the reasons we have a fall in requests is because departments are giving more information as a matter of routine,” he said.