The number of Freedom of Information requests received by the Department of Finance dropped by up to 78 per cent from 2003-2007 following amendments to the FOI Act in 2003, it has emerged.
Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton said other government departments had also seen a significant decline in applications and described the fall in applications to the Department of Finance from 305 in 2003 to 66 in 2007 as "utterly alarming".Ms Creighton called for new measures to make it easier for people to seek access to information about public bodies.
The Dublin South East TD said it was "time to change this legislation of secrecy", adding that "in a climate of suspicion and mistrust of politicians and political institutions, it is alarming the Government can continue to stand over legislation that is arbitrary, exclusionary and inconsistent in its application". Ms Creighton claimed that Minister for Finance Brian Cowen had "disgracefully refused to reduce fees for FOI requests" and said they were the highest in Europe. "There is an unfair cost barrier in place which is designed to impede members of the public from exercising their rights under the legislation," said Ms Creighton.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said the €15 fee was necessary as time and money was being spent by departments to track paperwork and other extensive documentation in each case.