Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 September 2024
271. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Social Protection the total number of freedom of information requests submitted to her Department in 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024; the total number of such requests that were rejected in their entirety; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37603/24]
View answerThe total number of requests under the Freedom of Information Acts received in the Department of Social Protection in 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024 is 6,106. Of those, 348 'were refused' within the statutory meaning of the phrase in the Act. In other words they were not answered because the information was already in the public domain, the record does not exist, the request was frivolous or vexatious or the requester did not pay a fee in the case of a voluminous request. A full breakdown is given in the table below.
Freedom of Information Requests 2022 – 2024*
|
2022 |
2023 |
2024* |
|
|
Total FOI requests |
2,085 |
2,468 |
1,890 |
|
FOI requests refused |
110 |
140 |
98 |
* Statistics are validated at year end and then published in the first quarter of the following year. The figures for 2024 are preliminary and are up to and including 18th September 2024.
