A call for a review of the scale and structure of the charges under the Freedom of Information Act to include input by all interested parties was made yesterday by the Information Commissioner, Ms Emily O'Reilly.
Addressing the Joint Committee on Finance and Public Service, Ms O'Reilly said she issued a report last month detailing the effects of the amendments and the fees increase on the FOI Act. The results were that there was a huge decline in both requests and appeals.
"So great has the decline in usage been that a review of the scale and structure of the charges particularly in relation to my office should be undertaken."
She said she hoped her report would prompt a full public debate on the position and future of FOI in this State. "I would be disappointed if there was no change in the fees issue," she said.
The number of requests by journalists fell by 83 per cent, business requests also sharply declined and there were 1,000 fewer requests from ordinary citizens and community groups between the first quarter of 2003 and the first three months of this year.
The number of appeals relating to non-personal information dropped by about 50 per cent.
"I regard this as a very serious matter, not just for the requesters who have almost certainly been deterred by the high cost of appealing to my office, but also for my role in relation to monitoring the working of the Act," she said. The cost of an appeal was now €150, she said.
However, Ms O'Reilly said that it was not only the fees issue that was a problem. The public had the perception that the new legislation impacted on personal information. This was not the case.There was also a perception among journalists that the FOI was not worth a candle since the amendments. She did not agree .