Annual Report 2008 - Text

Application of FOI Act to Cabinet Records

As of 21st April 2008 the ten year moratorium on the right of access to Cabinet records introduced by the FOI Amendment Act 2003 (to replace the five years originally provided for in the 1997 Act) was lifted in the case of cabinet records created on 21st April 1998. This meant that, by the end of the year, the cabinet records from 21st April to 31st December 1998 were, subject to the remaining exemptions of the FOI Act, potentially open to FOI access. The impact of this provision has not been very apparent to date and I have had very few cases coming to my Office on review relating to such records.

In the media coverage during the year of a decision of mine on more recent cabinet records it was not always made clear that my decision to direct the Department of the Taoiseach to release a record of a cabinet discussion on CO2 emissions was made in my role as Commissioner for Environmental Information and not under the FOI Act. A more detailed account of the position can be found in Chapter 5 dealing with the provisions of the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007.

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