A spokesman for the Minister for Finance has rejected calls for a change to the fees charged for requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.
He was speaking after the release of a report by the Information Commissioner, Emily O'Reilly, which shows that the number of requests had fallen dramatically since the introduction of fees and other changes by the Government last year.
Charlie McCreevy's spokesman said the €15 initial fee was 'very modest', and could not be seen as a significant deterrent to making a request.
He said it had led to a 'more considered and responsible use of the Act'.
In an investigation, Ms O’Reilly found that overall use of the FOI has fallen by 50%, while requests for non-personal information has dropped by 75%.
Freedom of Information allows individuals to access information about themselves held by Government departments and State agencies, as well as giving third parties access to information of wider public interest, about how and why decisions are made and implemented.
Last year, the Government tightened up the type of information that could be released, and introduced charges, ranging from €15 for an initial request, to €150 for an appeal to the Information Commissioner against a refusal to release documents.
Ms O’Reilly said the decline in use of the Act had gone far beyond what the Government had intended, and she called for a review of the scale and structure of the charges.
She said she was particularly concerned by the €150 charge for appealing a decision to her office.
