O’Reilly criticises changes to FoI rules
Ms O’Reilly said the creation of agencies such as the Road Safety Authority and the National Employment Rights Authority had allowed some information previously accessible to the public to be removed from the FoI act.
In most cases, Ms O’Reilly said her office had not been notified of the proposed removal of important functions from the scope of FoI legislation.
Launching her office’s annual report, Ms O’Reilly also expressed regret that no new public bodies were brought within the FoI act during 2009, despite her repeated calls for organisations like An Garda Síochána, the Central Bank and the National Treasury Management Agency to be included, as well as new bodies like NAMA.
“I do not accept the view that inclusion under FoI would in some way hamstring NAMA and other similar bodies in the delivery of important public service functions,” said Ms O’Reilly. She claimed exemptions in the FoI act already provided ample protection for genuinely sensitive records.
The commissioner said the inclusion of bodies like NAMA would allow the public to participate in an informed debate on how public bodes manage their affairs, particularly in relation to efficiency and value for money. “I continue to believe that such accountability and transparency is a mark of a healthy democracy,” she said.
Ms O’Reilly said she did not know if politicians, civil servants or both were responsible for the trend towards excluding certain functions and bodies from the FoI act. She also criticised the regular failure of many public bodies to consider the public interest in the decision to refuse the release of information.
“These decisions cannot be regarded as having been properly taken in accordance with the FoI act,” said Ms O’Reilly.
Overall, the total number of FoI requests made to over 500 public bodies in 2009 increased by 13% to 14,290 – the highest since 2005. Over three-quarters of all FoI applications were granted in full or part.
Government departments recorded the lowest release rate, with just 39% of requests being either full or part-granted. The number of FoI requests to the Department of Finance increased by 51% last year.
The Information Commissioner reviewed 235 cases during 2009. Ms O’Reilly affirmed the original decision of public bodies in 77% of 97 formal decisions made by her office last year.
She also invoked statutory powers against three public bodies over their failure to release records – theDepartment of Justice, RTÉ and Cavan Town Council.
The HSE and government departments continue to account for the large majority of FoI requests in 2009.
The Mercy Hospital in Cork received 416 FoI requests last year – the 8th largest total of any public body and a 108% increase on 2008 figures. However, it is understood there is no single reason for the rise in the number of FoI requests to the Cork hospital.
The Information Commissioner’s report noted how the FoI act had enabled information enter the public domain which would otherwise remain unknown, including articles in the Irish Examiner which revealed that 31 children had suffered injuries while in the care of the HSE’s Dublin North-East region and problems within the operation of the Irish Red Cross.
