IPPN

THE Information Commissioner, Emily O'Reilly, has called for inspection reports on all schools and nursing homes to be made routinely available to the public.

Ms O'Reilly, who oversees implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FoI), argued that the ready availability of such information was justified on the grounds of public interest.

Speaking at the launch of her annual report in Dublin yesterday, Ms O'Reilly welcomed the fact that the Health Service Executive (and previously various health boards) was now routinely releasing reports relating to inspections of nursing homes.

Ms O'Reilly disagreed with a recent Supreme Court judgment which overturned her decision to grant the release of an inspector's report on a school in Dublin - Scoil Choilm in Crumlin.

Contrary to the court's findings, Ms O'Reilly said the information contained in such reports could not be used to compile "crude league tables".

"They don't talk about the academic achievements of students. They are exactly the type of reports which teacher unions are saying should be released," she remarked.

Ms O'Reilly said it remained open for Education Minister Mary Hanafin to release such school reports "if she so wishes".

She blamed the controversial imposition of fees on requests and appeals - which was introduced by the Government in 2003 - as the primary cause of a 32% decline in the number of FoI applications last year.

Requests relating to records held by education and health authorities accounted for the vast majority of the 12,597 requests made under the FoI Act in 2004.

Requests for personal information under the legislation (which are free of charge) now account for three times the number of non-personal requests.

Applications from journalists fell from 13% of the total in 2003 to just 7% last year.

The number of applications to the Information Commissioner for review of a refusal to release documents, which cost €150 each, fell 61% to 434 cases last year. An initial appeal to a public body for a review of its decision costs €75.

Ms O'Reilly said she upheld the decision of the public body in 93% of all cases reviewed in 2004.

However, the Information Commissioner expressed regret that she had to issue six notifications to heads of public bodies last year to remind them of her powers to seize documents that were not being made available.

In particular, she criticised the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, for obstructing her office in obtaining records relating to the organ retention inquiry.

Ms O'Reilly also expressed concern at the "unhealthy fall" in the number of FoI requests to "key" Government departments including the Taoiseach's office and finance.

She repeated her call for a review of FoI legislation and fees and expressed concern that the high level of charges to her office impacted negatively on the effectiveness of providing information to the public.

Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd, who has accessed records of nursing homes under the FoI Act, said it was now imperative that such reports be made publicly available. He pointed out that 33 nursing homes had adverse findings made against them last year following health inspections.

"The Health and Safety Executive cannot hide behind Freedom of Information anymore."

Click here to access the article on the Irish Examiner website