Student Section

The Freedom of Information Act 1997

Purpose and Principles

The broad purpose of the Freedom of Information Act is to confer rights on members of the public to obtain access to information held by public bodies to the greatest extent possible consistent with the public interest and the right to privacy.

The principles underlying FOI are that:

  • every individual should have the right;
    • to know what information is held in government records about him or her,
    • to inspect files held about or relating to him or her, and/or
    • to have inaccurate material on file corrected,
  • people who are affected by decisions of public bodies should have the right to know how the decisions are arrived at,
  • decisions by public bodies should be more open to public scrutiny, thus providing greater appreciation of the issues involved in policy decisions and stronger public ownership and acceptance of decisions made.

Exemptions

Information held by public bodies can be sought under the Act. However, in order to allow business to be properly conducted and to protect personal privacy, it is necessary to exempt from release certain types of records in some circumstances, that is, where some form of harm will happen if these records are released and it is not in the public interest to release them. Among the key exemptions are records relating to:

  • meetings of the Government,
  • deliberations of public bodies,
  • investigative functions and negotiations,
  • law enforcement and security,
  • confidential and commercially sensitive information,
  • personal information (other than information relating to the person making the request), and
  • economic interests of the State.

Appeals

In the event of a request being refused by a public body, requesters can appeal to the public body to re-examine their case. The public body must have the request reviewed by someone more senior than the person who made the original decision. If the requester is still unhappy with the decision, he or she has the right to appeal the decision to the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Information Manuals

The right of access, on request, to the records of public bodies is only one aspect of Freedom of Information. There are two other requirements of the Acts which are designed to further promote openness, transparency and accountability:

  • the requirement that public bodies publish information reference manuals (known as section 15 manuals), and
  • the requirement that public bodies publish a manual of their rules and practices )known as section 16 manuals).

These manuals provide a "road map" of the body concerned. They help an individual come to a view whether a decision which affects him or her has been properly made. To this end, they contain important pieces of information such as :

  • details of the public body's functions, powers and duties,
  • any services which it provides to the public and how the public may avail of those services,
  • a general description of the type of records which it holds,
  • the arrangements made to allow persons to obtain access to those records,
  • the names of some or all staff as well as their responsibilities within the organisation, and
  • the rules, practices, guidelines and interpretations used by the body,
  • an index of precedents kept by the body for the purposes of its decisions, determinations or recommendations made under any law or scheme which it administers.

Freedom of Information Usage Statistics

Between 1998 and 2004, over 90,000 requests have been submitted to public bodies. The table below shows this figure year-by-year. A more detailed breakdown of these figures can be obtained in the Information Commissioner's most recent Annual Report.

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

3286

10026

13705

15248

17196

18443

12597

% Change

+205%

+37%

+11%

+13%

+7%

-32%

Type of Information Released

Between 1998 and 2004 the FOI Act has been responsible for release of a broad range of information, including records relating to:

  • Health Board Nursing Home Reports,
  • Report on Prison Health Care highlighted inadequacies within the system,
  • Papers relating to the Task Strategy Group suggested difference of opinion with Minister for Finance over tax "individualisation",
  • Papers from 2000 relating to decentralisation revealed senior civil servants unease at some of the proposals,
  • Streets in Dublin where you are most likely to have your car clamped are now known,
  • "University Feeder School" tables are regularly published,
  • Expenses of Members of the Oireachtas are routinely made available,
  • Policy of some hospitals relating to the transference of children's body parts to hospitals in the UK became known,
  • Papers were released relating to the agreement between the State and the Catholic Church on the funding arrangement for compensation payments arising from the institutional redress process,
  • Papers were released revealing tensions between the Department of Finance and the Department of Health and Children in relation to Health Service expenditure,
  • Papers were released concerning the mounting costs of the proposed National Sports Stadium, Campus Stadium Ireland,
  • Inconsistencies between draft reports on rail safety were revealed,
  • Papers were released relating to the proposed appointment of former Supreme Court Justice Mr. O'Flaherty to the European Investment Bank,
  • The identities of those most in receipt of EU agricultural subsidies are now released,
  • Communications between Government Departments and semi-State bodies are now routinely available (e.g. the amount of the RTÉ license fee), and
  • Successful tender documentation often relating to expenditure of millions of Euro are now routinely released (e.g. Telecom Eireann flotation),
  • The names of the top earners in RTÉ are regularly published.

Back to contents