Madam, - The charges imposed by the Government on the Freedom of Information Act are undemocratic and deliberately restrictive. It is a retrograde step that should be reversed. One way of defeating the Government's attempts of secrecy is to use the European Directive on Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment (90/313).
The directive operates in much the same way as the FOI Act. Members of the public wishing to get access to certain information must write to the relevant government department or body quoting the directive. It aims to "ensure freedom of access to, and dissemination of, information on the environment held by public authorities".
The directive defines a public authority as "any public administration at national, regional or local level with responsibilities, and possessing information, relating to the environment, with the exception of bodies acting in a judicial or legislative capacity".
The existence of the directive is yet another example of how we in Ireland have to rely of Europe for environmental protection. The fee of €15 per request is a crude and very obvious attempt by this Government to prevent people accessing important information. I am aware of several local community groups who have done this country a great service by campaigning on environmental issues and who use the FOI act frequently. Run on a shoestring budget, the €20 fee effectively abolishes the FOI act for them. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICIA McKENNA, MEP, European Parliament, Brussels.