Freedom of Information requests to the Department of Finance have dropped in volume by nearly 80 per cent since the Act was amended in 2003, it was revealed today.
Responding to a Dáil question about the number of requests received by the Department since the introduction of the Act in 1997, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen provided data showing that requests had dropped by 78 per cent in the four year period from 2003 to 2007 - from 305 to 66 requests annually.
The Freedom of Information Act obliges departments, the HSE, local authorities and other statutory agencies to publish information on their activities and to make personal information available to citizens.
Describing the figures as "utterly alarming", Fine Gael deputy Lucinda Creighton said the legislation amending the Act in 2003 was "simply flawed" with high fees impeding many citizens from utilising the legislation to its full potential.
"The Minister for Finance has disgracefully refused to reduce fees for FOI requests, which are 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," she added.
Ms Creighton called for the Act to be extended to include bodies such as An Garda Siochána and said the legislation should provide more clarity and less discretion in relation to exemptions in relation to privacy and cabinet confidentiality.
"In a climate of suspicion and mistrust of politicians and political institutions, it is alarming that the Government can continue to stand over legislation that is arbitrary, exclusionary and inconsistent in its application," Ms Creighton said.
"Until these issues are addressed, we in Ireland will continue to lag behind the rest of the modern democratic world in relation to openness and transparency," she added.