O'Reilly calls for reduced fees in FoI appeals

Fees for Freedom of Information (FoI) appeals should be drastically reduced to bring them into line with those charged in other countries, according to Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly.

The number of FoI requests made to public bodies has dropped 59 per cent since the Government introduced fees in 2003, while the number of appeals to her office has fallen 44 per cent, she said.

Ms O'Reilly yesterday made a number of recommendations for changes to the FoI Act to make it more accessible to the public.

Appeal fees should be refunded where a request for information is successful, she said. In addition, a number of restrictions on access to Government records, which were introduced in the FoI Act 2003, should be removed.

The commissioner also called for the Health and Safety Authority to be fully included in the remit of FoI legislation and said the Minister for Finance should review existing rules on access to records of a deceased person by the spouse, partner or next of kin.

The 2003 Act set fees of €15 for an initial request, €75 for an internal review by a Government department or public body and €150 for an appeal to the Information Commissioner.

In arguing for a reduction in fees, Ms O'Reilly pointed out that in seven other countries with similar FoI legislation, none charged a fee for an internal review, while only one, Ontario, charged a fee (€15.60) for an appeal to the information commissioner.

The 2003 Act provided a mandatory exemption for the protection of "Government records", she said.

"This sometimes results in trivial and non-sensitive material being exempt from release under the Act. We recommend the exemption return to a discretionary one to enable non-sensitive material be released."

Another mandatory exemption for records relating to security or defence of the State and Northern Ireland should be confined to instances in which the release of documents could be expected to result in some harm.

The 10-year period for protection of Government communications should revert to the five years stipulated in the original FoI legislation dating from 1997, she added.

Ms O'Reilly also said the Minister should be obliged to collect and publish statistics on FoI usage.

The maximum fine for hindering or obstructing the Information Commissioner should be increased to €10,000 and/or six months' imprisonment.

Ms O'Reilly acknowledged that some of the suggestions had been made before but said she had added further recommendations drawn from her own experience of operating the Act.