Government urged to make FoI law more transparent

The National Newspapers of Ireland yesterday urged the Government to scrap the €15 fee payable for freedom of information requests and called for proposed changes to FoI law to be expanded to allow for more openness and transparency.

The NNI told the joint committee on finance, public expenditure, and reform that in some cases, journalist requests for information were being met with a “take it or leave it, appeal it if you want, attitude” from information officers in public bodies.

Frank Cullen, NNI co-ordinating director, told the committee that bodies such as Nama and the NTMA — which are outside the scope of the act and which will remain so under the draft heads of the General Scheme of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012 — should be included.