FOI requests increase with most sent to the HSE

A total of 35,673 Freedom of Information  requests were made to all public bodies in 2021.

The number of Freedom of Information requests made to public bodies in 2021 increased significantly last year, as did applications to the Information Commissioner, with the vast majority seeking records from the HSE.

The Information Commissioner's latest annual report also shows that appeals to the Commissioner for Environmental Information trebled last year, in addition to the 13% rise in FOI requests and the 17% increase in applications to review earlier decisions.

Information Commissioner, Ger Deering, said he was concerned at the high percentage of ‘deemed refusals’ his Office has seen — cases where no decision is made by the public body on an FOI request at both the initial ‘decision making’ and ‘internal review’ stages of the request. 

He said 31% of reviews accepted by the Information Commissioner in 2021 were ‘deemed refusals’ compared with 32% in 2020, and 19% in 2019.

35,673 FOI requests

A total of 35,673 FOI requests were made to all public bodies in 2021, while the Office received 687 applications to review decisions made by public bodies under the FOI Act.

The Information Commissioner’s Office completed 20% more cases (498) than it did in 2020 (414), and typically in a quicker timeframe.

The Health Service Executive was the public body that received the most FOI requests — 10,025 in total, up from 8,737 in 2020.

The Department of Social Protection, at 1,733, received the next highest number of FOI requests, and the Tusla, with 1,365.

More than half of all requests were made by clients of public bodies, and one-in-five by journalists.

Cases appealed

The report also gives some examples of cases that were appealed, including one in which the Houses of the Oireachtas Service refused to release the vast majority of records it held relating to compliance by members of the Oireachtas, and others in the complex, with Covid-19 measures such as social distancing and hygiene protocols.

Following an application for review of the decision, the Information Commissioner engaged with the Service resulting in the release of the majority of the records to the requester, with some information redacted on the ground that it was personal information relating to the staff and members of the Oireachtas.

Another example was Meath County Council refusing access to audio and video recordings of special planning meetings of the Council which were attended remotely and in person by council officials, county councillors, and members of the public.

The local authority said that the recordings contained the personal information of the people involved but the Information Commissioner dismissed the Council’s claims and said that the members of the public who attended could not have any expectation that the information would be treated as confidential as the meetings were held in public.