Combined Section 15/16 Manual of the Standards Commission

1.4 How to make an FOI request to the Standards Commission

Initial requests for information under section 7 of the FOI Acts should be directed to:

Mr. Brian McKevitt
Assistant Principal
Standards in Public Office Commission
18 Lower Leeson Street
Dublin 2

A request for information may be made in writing or electronically. The requester should:

1. State that the request is being made under the FOI Acts;
2. Set out sufficient particulars to enable the record(s) to be identified
3. Specify the preferred form of access, if he or she has such a preference (e.g. photocopy,disk)
4. Enclose the correct fee made payable to the Standards in Public Office Commission.

 A fee is not payable

• where the records requested contain only personal information relating to the applicant
• where a person is making an application to have a personal record amended; or
• where a person is requesting information regarding an act of a public body affecting that person.

For other (non-personal) information a fee of €15 applies in respect of the cost of retrieving and copying the record requested. A reduced fee of €10 applies in the case of a medical card holder.

A form for making an application to the Standards Commission under the FOI Acts is provided at Appendix 1 to this manual. This form is available on request from the Secretariat to the Standards Commission. It can also be downloaded from the forms section of the website of the Standards Commission (www.sipo.gov.ie).

An application will be acknowledged within two weeks of receipt. A decision to grant or refuse an application will be made within four weeks of receipt of the application. There are some limited situations where the period for a final decision may be longer than four weeks. If this occurs, the requester will be promptly informed in writing.

Requesting an internal review of a decision made under the FOI Acts (including details of fees)

The FOI Acts provide for a right of review, and subsequently, of appeal, where a request for the release of information has been refused or only partially granted. The right of review and appeal also applies in relation to the level of fees charged, the form in which the request is being met (e.g. the requester wishes to have the information on computer diskette and the body decides instead to provide it by way of photocopy) or where access has been deferred.

A requester may seek a review of an initial decision, which will be carried out internally by an official at a higher level, if:

• the requester is dissatisfied with the initial response received i.e. refusal of request, form of access, charges, or
• the requester has not received a reply within four weeks of the initial application (this is deemed to be a refusal of the request and allows the requester to proceed to internal review).

A request for an internal review should be made, in writing, to:

Mr. David Waddell
Secretary
Standards in Public Office Commission
18 Lower Leeson Street
Dublin 2

A request for internal review must be made within four weeks of the initial decision. The Standards Commission must then complete the internal review within three weeks. Internal review normally precedes an appeal to the Information Commissioner.

A fee of €75 must accompany applications for internal review of a decision of a public body (a reduced fee of €25 applies in the case of medical card holders or their dependents). There is no fee for internal review applications concerning:

• records containing only personal information relating to the applicant;
• a decision to impose a fee or deposit;
• decisions which were deemed to be refused because the original request was not replied to within the required time limits;
• decisions in relation to the right to have personal information amended;
• decisions regarding information of acts of public bodies affecting the applicant.

Requesting review by the Information Commissioner of a decision made following internal review (including details of fees)

Decisions given by the Standards Commission at review stage are subject to appeal to the Information Commissioner and subsequently, on a point of law, to the High Court. The Office of the Information Commissioner is located at 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2. The Information Commissioner, Ms. Emily O'Reilly, is also a member of the Standards in Public Office Commission. Where an FOI request relating to the Standards Commission is referred on appeal to the Information Commissioner, she may, in the circumstances, delegate consideration of the case to a member of the staff of the Office of the Information Commissioner.

A standard application fee of €150 applies to applications for review by the Information Commissioner. A reduced fee of €50 applies in the case of medical card holders and their dependents. A fee of €50 also applies where the applicant is specified in section 29(2) of the FOI Acts, i.e. a third party with the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner where a public body decides to release their information on the grounds of public interest.

Fees do not apply in relation to applications concerning:

• records containing only personal information relating to the applicant;
• decisions in relation to the right of amendment of records relating to personal information;
• decisions regarding information of acts of public bodies affecting the applicant:
• a decision to charge a fee or deposit exceeding €25 under section 47 for the retrieval and copying of records;
• a decision to charge a fee on the basis that the records do not contain only personal information on the application or on the basis that the applicant is not a medical card holder or a dependent of a medical card holder;
• an appeal on the grounds that a review decision was not made within the required time limits.

Fees for the search, retrieval and copying of records

Fees may also apply, as follows, in relation to the cost of search and retrieval and copying of records:

• a maximum charge of €20.95 per hour for search and retrieval of records to which access is granted;
• 4 cent per sheet in relation to the provision of photocopies of records requested;
• 51 cent in relation to a 3.5" computer diskette (where the records are requested in this format); and
• €10.16 in relation to a CD-ROM (where the records are requested in this format).

A deposit may be payable by the requester where the total fee is likely to exceed €50.79. In such circumstances, the public body must, if requested, assist the requester to adjust the request so as to reduce or eliminate the amount of the deposit. No charges apply to the time spent by public bodies in considering requests for information.

Charges may be waived in the following circumstances:

• where the cost of collecting and accounting for the fee would exceed the amount of the fee;
• where the information would be of particular assistance to the understanding of an issue of national importance; or
• in the case of personal information, where such charges would not be reasonable having regard to the means of the requester.

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