Roundup #2

A roundup of recent stories about FOI in Ireland

Craigavon Borough Council have a code of conduct requiring staff to declare any familial relationships with other staff. But since it does not monitor this, it is unable to provide information as to how many familial relationships there are between staff.


According to the Irish Times, an FOI request in the Republic has revealed a that a report sent to the Minister for Arts on the proposed merger between the National Library and the National archives - expected to save a million Euro - would “seriously undermine” the ability of the “already very strained” bodies to deliver on their statutory obligations.

The Freedom of Information Act is often used by press officers as a 'delaying tactic', the Society of Editors Conference in Belfast has been told. At the organization's annual conference, the editor of the Belfast Telegraph claimed that it is now more difficult to access information that should be in the public domain:
“we are in a pretty shutdown society,” he said.“For information that can be given easily, we actually face delay. Information is actually harder and harder to get hold of.”