The Information Commissioner has warned that new fees for appealing decisions under the Freedom of Information Act could act as a 'financial disincentive' to people exercising their right of appeal.
In a statement, Emily O'Reilly said the scale of charges may distort the level playing field provided for in the Act, and runs counter to the Long Title of the Act which says its purpose is to enable members of the public to obtain access to information to the greatest extent possible.
Ms O'Reilly said she intends to monitor the impact of the fees and the effects of the recently amended legislation, and will report her findings in due course.
The Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, earlier announced that requests under the Freedom of Information Act will now incur a cost of €15.
Controversial changes made to the Freedom of Information Act earlier this year paved the way for the introduction of these charges.
From next Monday, anyone making a request for non-personal information will have to pay an up-front fee of €15.
But if members of the public are not happy with a Department's response, extra charges will apply.
An internal appeal to the Department in question will cost €75, while it will cost €150 to appeal a decision to the Information Commissioner.
Ms O' Reilly added that while the initial €15 fee for making requests was broadly comparable to other jurisdictions which charge for FOI requests, it is not the general practice elsewhere to charge for appeals, or to charge higher fees for internal review and for appeals to the Information Commissioner, as the Finance Minister is proposing.
Criticism of move
The move has been strongly criticised by Fine Gael, the Greens and the Labour Party.
The Labour Party spokeswoman on Finance, Joan Burton, described the move as the most backward ever taken by the Government.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the National Union of Journalists said there was no justification for introducing the new charges.
NUJ Irish Secretary Seamus Dooley said the charges were 'an outrageous attempt to thwart citizens' access to public information'.
