Freedom of Information

Tuesday, 25 June 2024

Ceisteanna (151)

Fergus O'Dowd

Ceist:

151. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the number of contracted staff, full-time and part-time, employed by his Department, and by any body or entity under the aegis of the Department, who are specifically assigned to processing freedom of information requests (details supplied), in each of the past three years; the Civil Service grade of each; the number of freedom of information requests dealt with by his Department, or any body or entity under its aegis, in each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27238/24]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform

The information requested by the Deputy in respect of my Department and the bodies under its aegis is set out in the tables below. It is important to note that the staff listed in the first table would typically work in FOI Units but some would also have duties other than the processing of FOIs.

Public Body	No. of full / part time staff working in FOI Units 2021	No. of full / part time staff working in FOI Units 2022	No. of full / part time staff working in FOI Units 2023	Grades
Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform	3	3	3	1 AP (shared with Corporate Support), 1 HEO, 1 EO
Office of Public Works	2	2	2	1 HEO, 1 EO
State Laboratory	1	1	1	1 Principal Chemist
Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery	2	2	2	1 AP, 1 HEO
National Shared Services Office	1	1	1	1 AP in 2021 (then replaced by 1 HEO)
Office of the Ombudsman	1	1	1	1 AP
Office of the Information Commissioner	1	1	1	1 HEO
Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information	1	1	1	1 HEO
Standards in Public Office Commission	1	1	1	1 AP
Commission for Public Service Appointments	1	1	1	1 AP
Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner	1	1	1	1 AP

The number of Freedom of Information requests received by my Department and the bodies under its aegis is as follows:

Public Body	Number of FOI requests 2021	Number of FOI requests 2022	Number of FOI requests 2023
Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform	266	224	249
Office of Public Works	105	90	137
State Laboratory	4	5	4
Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery	14	18	9
National Shared Services Office	10	10	13
Office of the Ombudsman	32	36	33
Office of the Information Commissioner	14	13	10
Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information	0	3	1
Standards in Public Office Commission	39	45	69
Commission for Public Service Appointments	5	6	3
Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner	0	0	2