Freedom of Information Office at ITT Dublin.
Introduction to FOI
The Freedom of Information Act, 1997 was passed into Law on the 21 April, 1997. The Act came into force for Government Departments and certain Government bodies on 21 April 1998 and for local authorities and Health Boards on 21 October 1998. Regulations were signed into law on 22 October 2001 by the Minister for Finance providing for the extension of the Act to the Institute. Regulations are effective from 1 October 2001.
The Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003, as passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, was signed into law on 11 April 2003. Click here to view the new Act. http://www.oic.gov.ie/2546/FOIAmAct.pdf
The Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 & 2003 impacts to some extent on many aspects of Institute life. In order to ensure that the Institute can meet its obligations under the Acts, a Freedom of Information Office was established. The office is also responsible for assisting students, staff and the public in exercising their rights under the Freedom of Information Acts. The main objective of the Acts is to foster and develop a culture of openness, transparency and accountability in public bodies. The Act is designed to allow public access to information held by public bodies which is NOT routinely available through other sources. Access to information under the Acts is subject to certain exemptions and involves specific procedures and time limits.
The Act establishes three new statutory rights:
- A right for each person to access information held by public bodies (section 6);
- A right for each person to have official information relating to him/herself amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading (section 17);
- A right to obtain reasons for decisions effecting oneself (section 18). The Acts asserts the right of members of the public to obtain access to official information to the greatest extent possible consistent with the public interest and the right to privacy.
The Acts gives right of access (subject to exemptions) to all records created after commencement of this Act i.e. 22 October 2001 in the case of this Institute. Such records created before that date of a non-personal nature as may be required to understand records created after the commencement of the Act. Personal records regardless of when created. In the case of staff members, personnel records created from a date 3 years before commencement of the Act.
Exemptions: In order to allow the Institute to carry out its responsibilities effectively, the Act exempts from release certain types of information in some circumstances where the Institute may seek to withhold certain records because their release would cause a harm or injury prejudicial to the functioning of the Institute or would be contrary to the public interest.
In practical terms, this means that the key exemptions will be records relating to processes still in deliberation, records relating to the performance of certain investigative functions and negotiations, and the disclosure to third parties of personal information, commercially sensitive information or information obtained in confidence. These exemptions are set out in detail in Section 46 of the Act. An individual will have the right to seek review of an initial decision to refuse access. This will be to a higher authority within the university. Should the requester be unhappy with the outcome of the review, he/she may appeal the decision to the Information Commissioner, an independent arbiter under the Act. The internal review will normally take place before an appeal to the Information Commissioner.
Information will not come within the scope of the FOI Act where it is:
Already publicly available. The Department of Finance have recommended that as much information/policies/procedures as possible should be made available in the public domain i.e. published on the Institute's website to allow members of the public immediate access to information without the necessity to make a formal request.
Available under another enactment (except the Data Protection Act - requests for personal data may be made under either Act).
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