18 per cent rise in FoI requests

PAUL CULLEN

Tue, Apr 28, 2009

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to public bodies went up by 18 per cent last year, the first increase since 2005, according to the annual report of the Information Commissioner.

Much of the increase in demand for information, particularly from financial institutions, is a by-product of the economic downturn, according to the commissioner, Emily O'Reilly.

Launching her report for 2008, Ms O'Reilly said this morning that one of the by-products of the current economic crisis has been a sharp increase in public demand for transparency and accountability.

"As the public see the financial gains of the past decade slipping away there is a demand to know how the turnabout took place and how various public and private institutions behaved both during the boom and after it."

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