FOI Request

General

The Freedom of Information Act, 1997 (FoI Act) came into operation on 21 April, 1998. It applies to a range of public bodies including the Standards in Public Office Commission (the Standards Commission). The FoI Act, generally, supports the right of access to official information to the greatest extent possible with due respect to the public interest and the individual's right to privacy. It provides that persons may:

1. seek access to information held by public bodies
2. have personal information relating to themselves held by public bodies amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading
3. seek to be given reasons for decisions made by public bodies which affect them

As a body prescribed for the purposes of the FoI Act, the Standards Commission has, in accordance with sections 15 and 16 of the FoI Act, published a reference booklet which informs the public of its structure, of the nature of the documentation it holds and of the process by which requests for information can be made. This document is available in the "General Publications" section of the website.

Information held by the Standards Commission which may not be released under the FoI Act.

It should be noted that there is a prohibition on the disclosure of information obtained under the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001 (the Ethics Acts) or by being present at a sitting of the Standards Commission held in private.

This prohibition (which does not apply to information which, in accordance with the Ethics Acts, is laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas) is lifted only in very specific circumstances which are provided for in the Ethics Acts.

Section 32 of the FoI Act provides that requests for access to records may be refused if the record concerned is prohibited by the provisions of another Act and such provisions have not been specified in the Third Schedule to the FoI Act. The provisions of the Ethics Acts are not specified in the Third Schedule to the FoI Act. Accordingly, information obtained under the Ethics Acts may only be disclosed in accordance with the provisions of the Ethics Acts and is not subject to disclosure under the FoI Act.

There is no prohibition on the disclosure of information obtained under the Electoral Act 1997, as amended, or the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2001 (Party Leaders Allowance legislation). Information held by the Standards Commission under these Acts is subject to the provisions of the FoI Act.

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 Mc Kevitt,

Assistant Principal,

Standards in Public Office Commission,

18 Lower Leeson Street,

Dublin 2.

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

1. State that the request is being made under the FoI ActSet out sufficient particulars to enable the record(s) to be identified
2. Specify the preferred form of access, if he or she has such a preference (e.g. photocopy, disk)
3. 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 Act is available in the forms section of this website, or on request.

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.