Announcing details of a scale of up-front fees which will apply to FOI requests for non-personal information made from 7 July 2003, the Minister for Finance, Mr. Charlie McCreevy TD, today, said " I want to emphasise that there will be no fees for requests made for personal information nor in relation to any appeals in relation to such requests."

Requests for non-personal information made from 7 July 2003 must be accompanied by an up-front fee of 15 euro. A reduced fee of 10 euro will apply if the person making the request is a medical card holder or a dependent of a medical card holder. (The full scale of fees is attached.) There will be no change in the level of fees currently charged for processing FOI requests.

Stressing that the new fee structure will lead to a better appreciation of a service, which has been estimated to cost hundreds of euro on average per FOI request, the Minister added"A substantial number of users of the FOI Act will be either unaffected or will qualify for a reduced fee. A large percentage of FOI requests is for personal records related to the requester. Such requests are exempt from the new fees. As approximately one third of the population is covered by a medical card, a substantial proportion of FOI requests for non-personal information can be expected to qualify for a reduced fee."

"Furthermore, anyone using the FOI Act to have incorrect personal information amended, or to obtain reasons for decisions taken by public bodies which affect them personally, will not be charged, either in respect of the initial application or in respect of an appeal".

If a person is not satisfied with a decision of a public body on an FOI request, they are, in most cases, entitled to apply to the body concerned for what is termed 'internal review' of the decision. As the majority of FOI requests are granted in full or in part a relatively small proportion of requests have been appealed in this way. Under the new arrangements announced by the Minister, a fee of 75 euro (reduced to 25 euro for medical card holders and their dependants) will be required to accompany such an application.

If a person remains unsatisfied following the outcome of internal review, they are entitled to apply to the Information Commissioner for an independent review of the public body's decision. Under the new arrangements, a fee of 150 euro (reduced to 50 euro for medical card holders and their dependants) must accompany such an application. This fee will not apply in relation to an application to the Information Commissioner concerning only personal information or in relation to the charging of fees/deposits for processing such requests.

The new arrangements announced by the Minister also provide that third parties who have a right, under section 29 of the Act, to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner where a public body proposes to release certain information on public interest grounds will be liable for a reduced up-front fee of 50 euro in respect of such an appeal.

ENDS

* Fee will not apply where a person appeals a decision to charge a fee or deposit, or a fee or deposit of a particular amount under section 47 of the FOI Act
** Reduced fee will apply in respect of third parties who appeal a decision of a public body to release their information on public interest grounds.