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

Office of the 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 Office of the Information Commissioner FOI Act Scope Applies to : 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 Office of the Information Commissioner Fees Search and retrieval fee: Euro per hour for released records, no fee for time spent on decision making 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 Office of the Information Commissioner Exemptions Meetings of Government Records relating to deliberative process Prejudice investigations or negotiations Law Enforcement Confidential information Commercial information

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

Office of the Office of the Information Commissioner The public interest Not defined in the FOI Act, need to rely on case law (previous court findings) 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 Office of the Information Commissioner Public Interest factors favouring release Citizens’ right to know Information showing how public bodies (i) carry out their functions (ii) make decisions (iii) spend and account for public money (iv) inform people of their rights

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

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

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

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

Office of the Office of the Information Commissioner Key Decisions by Commissioner

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

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

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

Office of the Office of the Information Commissioner Access to public tender documents 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 Release of failed bidder’s documents 6 years after completion of the competition justified on public interest grounds

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