| Opening our processes of democracy to scrutiny |
| ACCORDING TO some, we have in Ireland a system of governance unfit for purpose. Serious structural reforms are needed. Well, maybe so. But step back for a moment and consider the wider world. Disenchantment with political systems is widespread. List systems, unicameral parliaments, postal voting, weekend voting . . . all are already in place in many democracies, and the same symptoms of disengagement, cynicism and disillusionment can be seen. The most interesting battles are being fought, not over constitutional structures, but around the freedom to access and disseminate information. // Read More // |  |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 07/08/2010 ( Reads : 42 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Taoiseach in High Court challenge to release Cabinet CO2 document |
THE TAOISEACH has brought a High Court challenge to the Commissioner for Environmental Information's decision ordering the release to a Dublin man of a document containing information of a 2003 Cabinet discussion of greenhouse gas emissions.
Commissioner Emily O'Reilly directed release of the document to Gary Fitzgerald after deciding a 2003 EU directive, guaranteeing a right of access by the public to environmental information held by public authorities, mandated that release.// Read More // |  |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 31/07/2009 ( Reads : 707 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Cowen goes to High Court in row over State secrets |
TAOISEACH Brian Cowen's department is accusing Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly of exceeding her powers and acting in breach of the Constitution, legal documents reveal. Mr Cowen's department is going head-to-head with Ms O'Reilly in a keenly anticipated case in the High Court in the new year. The Government has launched a High Court challenge to protect Cabinet confidentiality after Mr Cowen's office was ordered to release a secret document on greenhouse gases to a Green party local election candidate. // Read More // |  |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 12/01/2009 ( Reads : 915 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Cowen goes to High Court in row over State secrets |
TAOISEACH Brian Cowen's department is accusing Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly of exceeding her powers and acting in breach of the Constitution, legal documents reveal. Mr Cowen's department is going head-to-head with Ms O'Reilly in a keenly anticipated case in the High Court in the new year. The Government has launched a High Court challenge to protect Cabinet confidentiality after Mr Cowen's office was ordered to release a secret document on greenhouse gases to a Green party local election candidate. // Read More // |  |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 31/12/2008 ( Reads : 895 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Sligo hosts gathering of 43 countries on access rights |
SLIGO hosted a global gathering last week, which involved more than 70 people from 43 different countries. The Access Initiative (TAI), an international organisation which works to provide people with access to government information and decision making, held its annual Global Gathering at IT Sligo. TAI is the world's largest network of civil society organisations working to ensure that people have the right and ability to influence decisions about the natural resources that sustain their communities. The Global Gathering brings together members of TAI. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 18/11/2008 ( Reads : 900 ) | Comments (1) | FOI |
| Cowen takes cabinet secrecy battle to court |
THE TAOISEACH'S office is to launch a High Court case in an effort to protect cabinet confidentiality and prevent a document on greenhouse gas emissions being released to the public. Brian Cowen confirmed that he would be challenging a landmark decision by Emily O'Reilly, the information commissioner, which ordered his office to release secret cabinet papers under an EU directive on open access to information on the environment. The move will cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of euros as the state will have to finance both sides of the case. // Read More // |  |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 28/10/2008 ( Reads : 970 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Cowen takes cabinet secrecy battle to court |
THE TAOISEACH'S office is to launch a High Court case in an effort to protect cabinet confidentiality and prevent a document on greenhouse gas emissions being released to the public. Brian Cowen confirmed that he would be challenging a landmark decision by Emily O'Reilly, the information commissioner, which ordered his office to release secret cabinet papers under an EU directive on open access to information on the environment. The move will cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of euros as the state will have to finance both sides of the case. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 28/10/2008 ( Reads : 923 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Call to cut cost of freedom of information request |
A REDUCTION in the cost of freedom of information requests was demanded by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny. Mr Kenny said the 10,704 requests received by the Office of the Information Commissioner last year represented a 42 per cent decrease, or 7,739, on 2003. "The reason given was the introduction of fees," said Mr Kenny. Mr Kenny said the commissioner had requested, on a number of occasions, that the scale and structure of fees be reviewed. Among eight comparable jurisdictions, Ireland was one of only two that charged for freedom of information appeals. The charge in Ontario, Canada, was €16, compared to the Irish fee of €150. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 24/10/2008 ( Reads : 901 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Green activist smashes Cabinet secrecy rule |
THE iron rule barring the release of Cabinet papers for 30 years has been smashed by green campaigners. An EU directive allowing access to documents relating to pollution has been judged superior to the Constitutional doctrine of Cabinet confidentiality by the Information Commissioner. In a landmark ruling, the commissioner ordered environmental papers, historically reserved for ministerial eyes only, be released to a Green Party activist. Green council candidate Gary Fitzgerald's bid for access to Cabinet discussions on greenhouse gas emissions overturns secrecy rules and paves the way for other classified documents to be made available to citizens almost immediately after being seen by ministers. // Read More // |  |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 16/10/2008 ( Reads : 940 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| OECD calls to abolish charges for accessing information |
THE GOVERNMENT should abolish charges for Freedom of Information requests in a move to reduce barriers to public information, the OECD review suggests. In a section on "transparency of decision-making", it also says the scope of the 1997 Freedom of Information Act should be extended to cover a wider range of State agencies, such as vocational and educational committees. // Read More // |  |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 29/04/2008 ( Reads : 1150 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Abolish fees for information -- Labour |
FREEDOM of information fees should be abolished and a register of lobbyists set up to promote "open government", the Labour Party urged yesterday. Some State bodies are still charging up to €5,000 for the release of information, while the activities of many lobbyists for powerful commercial interests and trade associations are still carried out in secrecy. Yesterday, the party unveiled three pieces of draft legislation which, it said, would keep the public better informed about how public bodies made their decisions. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 11/04/2008 ( Reads : 1027 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| EU criticises Sweden over transparency move |
The European Commission has taken the first step of legal action against Sweden for having given public access to a confidential document - a move that could ultimately see Stockholm defending its traditional policy of transparency in EU courts. Late last month the commission sent a formal letter to the Swedish authorities asking for explanation as to why environment group Greenpeace in 2005 got access to a document about a new type of genetically modified corn feed to be launched by Monsanto - the world's leading producer of biotech seeds. // Read More // |  |
|
| Posted By Tony Lowes on 11/10/2007 ( Reads : 1135 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Sligo I.T. to measure people power on green issues |
| A research project to measure how democratic Ireland is in allowing citizens access to information and a say in decisions on environmental matters has been launched at Institute of Technology Sligo.
The project, called the Access Initiative, will scrutinise over 40 case studies to assess how easy it is for people to get information on environmental issues, to participate in environmental decision-making or get legal redress if they are blocked from doing so.
The research will be carried out at IT Sligo's Centre for Sustainability. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By the editors on 02/10/2006 ( Reads : 1260 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Labour criticises 'culture of secrecy' |
| THE Government has created a culture of secrecy within public bodies by repeatedly trying to gag the Freedom of Information Act, it was claimed yesterday. The Labour Party, which introduced the legislation in the mid-1990s, vowed to extend its powers if elected into office. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By the editors on 16/01/2006 ( Reads : 1246 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Fee reduces number of information requests |
| THE number of Freedom of Information requests submitted to the Department of the Environment has continued to plummet since the Government slapped a €15 charge on them. Prior to the introduction of the €15 fee in July 2003, the FOI office had dealt with 349 queries in 2002 and 233 in the first six months of 2003. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By the editors on 24/08/2005 ( Reads : 1294 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Historian criticises limited access to land files |
| Research into Irish social and political history is being seriously impeded by the State's refusal to make Land Commission records "freely accessible", a leading historian has claimed.
Dr Terence Dooley, an author and lecturer in modern history at NUI Maynooth, said "researchers as a body are becoming increasingly frustrated" at their inability to access the estimated 11 million records relating to the commission, which was responsible for redistributing land in the State up to the 1980s.
"There is no doubt this is the single most important, social economic, if not political, archive of the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century," he told The Irish Times. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By debra james on 16/07/2004 ( Reads : 1403 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Call for review of FOI fees |
| 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.
// Read More // | |
|
| Posted By debra james on 09/07/2004 ( Reads : 1370 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Government may refund successful FOI appeals |
| The Government is to consider refunding fees where people successfully appeal refusals to grant information under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, the Taoiseach told the Dáil.
Mr Ahern was replying to the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, who said that use of the Act had been cut dramatically since the introduction of fees. He asked the Taoiseach if he accepted that a person who successfully appealed a refusal of access to information should be reimbursed the fees involved.
// Read More // | |
|
| Posted By debra james on 09/07/2004 ( Reads : 1325 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| O'Reilly calls for cut in FOI fees as requests drop by 50% |
| IRELAND'S information watchdog has called for a reduction in fees for Freedom of Information requests after she revealed applications were down by 50% since their imposition.
Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly told the Dáil Finance sub-committee the fees were not even meeting the ?15,000 spent on collecting them and were endangering the operation of the act.
She said she would be disappointed if some charges under the act, which were introduced by Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy, were not reduced. // Read More // | |
|
| Posted By debra james on 08/07/2004 ( Reads : 1360 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
| Freedom of Information delays 'shameful' |
| DECISIONS on the release of contentious records under the Freedom Of Information Act are being delayed by years due to a lack of staff in the appeals body.
Information commissioner Emily O'Reilly is concerned at the delays in the processing of appeals by her office due to pressures of resources. The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) said in recent weeks they had 900 appeals, including some cases received in 1999, and 200 from before January 2002.
// Read More // | |
|
| Posted By debra james on 05/07/2004 ( Reads : 1375 ) | Comments (0) | FOI |
