The Information Commissioner has said a new provision in the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act brought in two years ago is protecting details of expense payments made to members of the Oireachtas from being fully released.

In his annual report for 2015, Peter Tyndall also directed the release of correspondence between the Ceann Comhairle and members of the Oireachtas in connection with the responses given to parliamentary questions.

There was a 38% rise in Freedom of Information Requests made to public bodies last year.

There was also a 32% increase in applications for review accepted by his office.

You can read the report in full here.