Almost a fifth of requests under the Freedom of Information Act were refused by public bodies in the last 11 months, the Government's first report on the legislation disclosed yesterday.
Some 6,200 requests were made up to March since the Act became law last April. Apart from the requests which were turned down, some 60 per cent were approved, 6 per cent were given outside the Act, and 15 per cent were still "being processed".
The 6,200 requests during the first 11 months of the Act indicated "a level of usage of the order of 170 per 100,000 of population", said the report. It said that while caution should be exercised when drawing comparisons with other states, "the level of usage compares well with international experience".
The report was published yesterday by the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Mr Martin Cullen, who has responsibility for the Act.
Some 53 per cent of requests were for personal information, 45 per cent were for non-personal information and 2 per cent related to mixed requests.
Civil Service departments received 4,633 requests, local authorities, 708, and health boards 932. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform received the most requests, followed by the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Community and Family Affairs.
Some public bodies refused more requests than they granted. For example, the Office of the Attorney General refused 24 requests and granted or part-granted only eight requests. Ironically, the Office of the Ombudsman turned down 12 requests while granting or part-granting two.