The Irish Freedom of Information Act and the

The Irish Freedom of Information Act and the role of the Information Commissioner Sean Garvey Senior Investigator Office of the Information Commissioner 28 September 2007 Office of the Information Commissioner

Overview l The FOI Act l Role of the Information Commissioner l Key Decisions of the Commissioner Office of the Information Commissioner

Entitlements under the FOI Act 1. Right of access to records held by public bodies 2. Right to have personal information amended if incorrect 3. Right to be given reasons for decisions that affect the individual Office of the Information Commissioner

FOI Act 1997 - Scope Applies to : l Listed public service or publicly funded bodies, eg Govt. Depts; Local Authorities; Health Boards; Public Hospitals; Universities, state broadcaster, etc Now applies to over 500 public sector bodies for non-personal records created before 1998, no date limit for personal records Office of the Information Commissioner

Fees l Search and retrieval fee: 20. 95 Euro per hour for released records, no fee for time spent on decision making l Application fees: (i) Personal records – Free (ii) Non-personal: 15 Euro - Initial request 75 Euro - Internal Review 150 Euro - Appeal to Information Commissioner Office of the Information Commissioner

Exemptions l l l Meetings of Government Records relating to deliberative process Prejudice investigations or negotiations Law Enforcement Confidential information Commercial information Office of the Information Commissioner

Exemptions (cont’d) l Personal information of others l International relations / Security / N Ireland l Economic interests of State Subject to PUBLIC INTEREST test Office of the Information Commissioner

The public interest l Not defined in the FOI Act, need to rely on case law (previous court findings) l In general, court findings have equated the public interest with the common good, eg if something is good for society/citizens, it is in the public interest Office of the Information Commissioner

Public Interest factors favouring release l Citizens’ right to know l Information showing how public bodies (i) carry out their functions (ii) make decisions (iii) spend account for public money (iv) inform people of their rights Office of the Information Commissioner

Public Interest factors against release l Citizen’s right to privacy l Ability of public bodies and Government to make decisions, carry out functions l Protection of external confidential information l Commercial interests of private companies l State security, prevention of crime Office of the Information Commissioner

Information Commissioner l Independent l Reviews l Keeps of Government decisions of Public Bodies operation of FOI Act under review l Reports to Oireachtas (Parliament) Office of the Information Commissioner

Reviewing Decisions l Public Body must justify its decision to Commissioner l Binding l Appeal Decision by Commissioner to High Court on point of law Office of the Information Commissioner

Powers of Commissioner l All records to be given to Commissioner l Enter premises of public bodies l Penalties of 1, 900 and 6 month prison Office of the Information Commissioner

Key Decisions by Commissioner Office of the Information Commissioner

Expenses of public representatives l 1998 Request for expenses paid to TD’s (MP’s) l Oireachtas (Parliament) claimed personal information l Commissioner : Personal information but release public interest in accountability of public funds Office of the Information Commissioner

Nursing Home/Creche Inspection Reports l Request to a regional health authority for access to Inspection Report of a private nursing home l The authority decided to grant access to report l Nursing Home objected to release of Report commercially sensitive Office of the Information Commissioner

Nursing Home/Creche Inspection Reports (cont’d) Commissioner found: l Part of record contained commercially sensitive information Public Interest in release l How inspections are carried out l Regulatory functions Office of the Information Commissioner

Access to public tender documents l Commissioner found that release of successful bidder’s documents would damage the bidder commercially, but public interest in the public body accounting for its spending of public money justified release l Release of failed bidder’s documents 6 years after completion of the competition justified on public interest grounds Office of the Information Commissioner

OIC web site www. oic. ie – All key decisions on web site to provide guidance – Register for regular updates Office of the Information Commissioner