This article is from page 2 of the 2006-09-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A STAGGERING 43 per cent of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to Clare’s local authorities last year were refused. This is the highest in the country.
Just over a third of FOI requests to the county’s authorities were given full responses, despite assurances from the minister responsible that the majority of requests nationwide were now being answered.
Figures released this week show that 15 of the 52 FOI requests dealt with by Clare County Council and its four town councils in 2005 were granted. A further 11 requests were part-granted, while 21 of the requests were refused.
One of the requests was transferred to another public body while one was also withdrawn.
The majority of the FOI requests made to the local authorities in Clare were described as “non-personal”, while just three was personal.
Fourteen of the requests came from journalists, seven from businesses and interested groups, one from a public representative and one from a client. The remaining 26 applicants were simply described as “others”.
Meanwhile, the majority of requests made to the HSE Mid-West under the Freedom of Information Act last year were personal.
A total of 288 patients requested information from the Health Services in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary.
Some 334 requests were made in total in 2005, but 109 requests were carried over from the previous year.
Of these requests, 292 were of a personal nature, while 42 were classified as non-personal.
A large number of the people looking for information – 250 – were granted their request, but 61 were refused. A further 51 of the requests resulted in part of the information being granted. Twelve were withdrawn.
While patients made up the largest number in the mid-west to look for information, 18 journalists, 15 businesses of interested groups, seven staff members and six public representatives also accessed the service.
Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Tom Parlon (PD), said that more and more people were accessing the service.
“The statistics show that the majority of people who apply for information under FOI are successful in getting the information they want,” he added.
Last October, plans to include some 130 additional public bodies to the FOI Act were announced.
These plans will bring to over 500 the number of bodies covered by FOI, compared to 67 when the Act was introduced eight years ago.