Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“I greatly welcome the Information Commissioner’s finding against OFMDFM on their refusal to provide information also sought by Assembly Questions.
“Being notorious for failing to answer Assembly Questions – in my case I have 103 unanswered, 56 of them by OFMDFM and one for as long as 5th October 2011 – OFMDFM tried to use the excuse that the information being sought by a member of the public could not be provided because the same information had been requested, but not yet provided, under an Assembly Question. Thus, they sought to compound their deliberate refusal to answer some Assembly Questions by relying on it as a “reason” not to meet their FOI obligations.
“I’m glad the Information Commissioner has exposed and rejected this duplicity.
“Some Stormont ministers are deliberate and serial abusers of the rules on answering Assembly Questions and consciously ignore the 10 day rule set out in Assembly Standing Orders. While Stormont and the Speaker can’t rein them in, I’m glad the Information Commissioner is taking them on.
“I now propose to have all my unanswered Assembly Questions tabled as FOI requests and thereby take advantage of this ICO ruling.”