FoI requests drop by 53 per cent since January

Requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act - amended by the Government in April - have dropped by more than 50 per cent since the start of the year, figures released today show.

The average weekly number of requests decreased by 53 per cent from 186 in January this year to 87.5 at the end of September.

The Act was amended by the Government in April to restrict the type of information available. Charges were also introduced for FoI requests in July.

Requests for non-personal information now cost €15 each, while internal appeals cost €75 and an appeal to the Information Commissioner and Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, costs €150.Personal requests are still free.

Today's figures, which were obtained by Fine Gael, are for all departments except the Department of the Taoiseach, which failed to respond to the request.

They show some departments - including Finance; Transport; Arts, Sports and Tourism; Enterprise, Trade and Employment; and Community Affairs - have seen requests drop by up to 85 per cent since April.

Certain departments are now receiving less than one request per week. Some departments had no requests for weeks at a time.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny TD, said the figures show the Government had succeeded in its policy to "strangle" the FoI Act.

"The Government has effectively applied a tourniquet to the flow of information to the public," he said.

He promised that any future Fine Gael-led would reverse the changes introduced by the current government.