A call was made in the Dáil for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to clarify "rumours" that there has been a huge increase in the use of "Post-it" stickers by civil servants, to avoid writing in files, because of potential Freedom of Information requests.
Labour's enterprise, trade and employment spokesman, Ruairí Quinn, said: "There have been rumours that civil servants are reluctant to commit to paper opinions or options, and there's been a vast increase in the purchase of Post-its in the Taoiseach's department and other departments."
Mr Ahern said the change in the use of files was just as much due to the development of the committee system and other investigations as it was to Freedom of Information requests.
"It's not just FOI. In the old old days . . . a file went on a circulation of sections. You tended to get the opinions of EOs and HEOS and assistant principals, written in manuscript on files. I haven't seen a file like that in a long time . . .
"I think the committee system, various investigations and other issues have had an impact. The old system, I used to enjoy quite frankly, where you able to follow the train of an argument through the relevant sections and picking up what middle-ranking people would say as distinct from what others would say."
Mr Ahern's department had received 45 FOI requests this year up to September. Some €690 had been received for application fees but no charges were levied for the retrieval of records. The majority of requests to his department - 62 per cent - came from journalists.
