Student Section

The Office of the Information Commissioner

Functions

Ms. Emily O'Reilly was appointed Information Commissioner with effect from 1 June 2003 by the President of Ireland on the recommendation of each of the Houses of the Oireachtas. She also was appointed as Ombudsman on the same day.

Her main functions are:

to review decisions made by public bodies in relation to Freedom of Information requests,
to keep the operation of the Act under review (this can involve investigation of the operation of the Act both generally and in relation to particular bodies),
to foster an attitude of openness among public bodies by encouraging the voluntary publication by them of information on their activities which goes beyond what they are obliged to publish under the Act;
to prepare and publish commentaries on the practical operation of the Act (these may be based on the experience of the Commissioner arising from cases already handled).

What the Commissioner May Review

The decisions of public bodies which may be reviewed by the Commissioner are:

a decision to refuse to provide all the records requested;
a decision to refuse to provide a complete record;
a decision to refuse to provide the record in the format sought;
a decision to defer the granting of access to the record;
a decision to refuse a request to correct personal information;
a decision to refuse to give reasons for actions of public bodies which materially affect a person;
a decision to charge a fee or seek a deposit before information is released;
a decision to release records in the public interest relating to a third party where the records contain information that is personal, given in confidence to the public body or is commercially sensitive; and
a decision to extend the time limit within which a request for access must be decided.

Statistics

Between 1998 and 2004, over 3,200 applications and almost 2,800 reviews were completed by the Information Commissioner. 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.

Appeals Accepted

1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
179	443	422	387	585	922	333
% Change	+147%	-5%	-8%	+51%	+57%	-64%

Reviews Completed

1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
57	141	237	445	534	728	628
% Change	+147%	+68%	+87%	+20%	+36%	-14%

Decisions of the Commissioner

The decisions of the Information Commissioner often set a precedent on how requests for similar information are treated by public bodies: Examples of these would include records such as:

Nursing Home Reports
RTÉ top earners
Take-over of Telecom Eireann by Valentia
Complaints to do with working conditions in school
Health Board, voluntary hospital expenditure
Reasons behind decisions granting or withholding asylum seeker status
details of successful tenders for Government contracts

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