Public make most freedom requests

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/8225841.stm

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The majority of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to Northern Ireland's government departments come from members of the public.

The latest government report on FoIs details how the 11 NI departments responded to the 3,015 requests, 69% of which were from private citizens.

The report said 9% of the requests were from the media and 8% from businesses.

First Minister Peter Robinson said government "should be as open and transparent as possible".

"I believe that our commitment to that principle is demonstrated in practical terms by the solid performance of our departments in responding to the steady stream of requests for information," he said.

The report said 93% of the requests received were answered in time and that information was fully disclosed in 73% of cases.

The most commonly used exemption for withholding information was "personal information", followed by "commercial interests" and "formulation of government policy".