236 Ms M. McGennis asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the companies or businesses from which his Department has received most frequent requests under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, other than requests by businesses for personal information; the general nature of the information sought; and the costs levied on the companies or businesses for the processing of these requests. [16422/99]

Out of a total of 623 requests for information under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act made to my Department since April 1998 to 31 May 1999, 42 were from businesses or companies. The highest number of requests made by any one company or business was five.

The information sought by the businesses or companies in question ranged from requests about the tendering process for projects undertaken by the Department to details of the work of the individual divisions of the Department.

My Department did not charge any of these companies for processing their requests.