What is Freedom of Information?

INTRODUCTION TO FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.

The Freedom of Information Act, 1997 came into effect for Government Departments on the 21st of April 1998 and for Local Authorities and Health Boards on the 21st of October 1998. 

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act was introduced:

• to enable 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,
• to enable persons to have personal information relating to them in the possession of public bodies, corrected,
• to provide for the right of access to records held by public bodies,
• to provide for necessary exceptions to that right,
• to provide for assistance to persons to enable them to exercise this right,
• to provide for the independent review, both of decisions of public bodies relating to that right and of the operation of this Act generally (including the proceedings of such bodies pursuant to this Act) and for those purposes, to provide for the establishment of the Office of Information Commissioner.
• to provide for the publication by public bodies of certain information about them, relevant to the purposes of this Act ,
• to amend the Official Secrets Act, 1963,
• to provide for related matters.

The Act established three new statutory rights:

1. A legal right for each person to access information held by public bodies.
2. A legal right for each person to have official information relating to him/herself amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading.
3. A legal right to obtain reasons for decisions affecting oneself.

The Act gives right of access (subject to exemptions) to:

• all records created after commencement of this Act i.e. 21st October 1998,
• such records created before that date as may be required to understand records created after 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 the commencement of the Act.

Freedom of Information

(04/May/2010)
Information Commissioner - Annual Report 2009 More...