Freedom of information review to be completed by next summer
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Michael McGrath
A government review of Ireland’s freedom of information legislation will be completed next summer, according to a new roadmap.
Public expenditure and reform minister Michael McGrath has set out his plans for the review of the Freedom of Information Act, which was first announced in June.
A public consultation on the scope of the review will commence later this year to allow stakeholders to “shape the issues and themes that will be considered, as well as to highlight any concerns they may have or any elements they feel are working well”.
Alongside the consultation, a project to estimate the cost of FOI to the exchequer and a customer satisfaction survey will be commenced before the end of the year.
Early in 2022, based on the insights and themes identified from the scoping survey, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will publish a consultation paper and a full public consultation will be undertaken.
Other research work will be undertaken alongside the full consultation, including an assessment of international best practices, focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders.
It is intended that research work will be concluded by the middle of 2022, and a report and recommendations presented to the government and published at that point.
Mr McGrath said: “This document sets out an ambitious program of work to take place over the coming months. The review will be an open, collaborative process, with an invitation for all interested stakeholders to make their voices heard.
“Transparency is a core principle of public administration. This review provides a forum to reflect on the successes of the current system as well the challenges and issues that have arisen in practice. But beyond that, it will be a chance to consider ways of ‘doing transparency’ that are fit for the modern world.
“I look forward to considering the input from across all sectors as the review progresses and urge anyone who has an interest in this important issue to take this opportunity to participate in the review and to shape the future of FOI in Ireland.”
A record 41,176 FOI requests were processed in 2019. A total of 32,652 requests were processed in 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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