The Freedom Of Information Act

1. What is FOI ?
   

   The FOI Act 1997 provides that every person has the following new legal rights:

   The right to access the official records held by public bodies listed in the Act;

   The right to have personal information held on them corrected or updated where such information is incomplete, incorrect or misleading.

   The right to be given reasons for decisions taken by public bodies that affect them.

   These rights mean that people can seek access to personal information held on them no matter when the information was created, and/or other records created after 21st April 1998, and by Local Authorities/Health Boards/Government Departments/other public bodies, after 21st October 1998.

2. Who has FOI ?
   FOI exists in Scandinavian countries, in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the United States and many other EU countries.

3. How does it work ?
   The Act requires public bodies to respond to requests from the public for information they hold. In most cases, public bodies must give their decision on a request within 4 weeks of receiving it.

   Also, public bodies must produce reference books setting out the structure of their organisation, the arrangements in place for providing information and any rules, guidelines or practices they use in reaching decisions that affect the public.

   These books are available from the public bodies concerned, and in many cases from public libraries. Some public bodies also have their reference books available on the Internet and on CD-ROM.

4. How can a request be made ?
   Requests must be in writing, they must specify that they are under the FOI Act and they must be clear enough so that the public body to whom the request is being addressed understands what records are being requested. In cases where the public body is not clear what records are being requested, it must assist the requester to put his/her request in such a way that the records being sought can be identified.

5. Can I get access to any information that I seek ?
   Any official information held by public bodies can be sought under the Act. However, in order to allow Government business to be properly conducted, it will sometimes be necessary to exempt from release certain types of information in some circumstances. These are set out in the Act. Among the key exemptions are the records relating to :

   Government meetings,
   Law Enforcement and Security,
   Confidential and Commercially Sensitive information,
   Personal Information (other than information relating to the person making the request).

6. What can I do if I am unhappy with a decision on my request ?
   Requesters can appeal to a public body to re-examine their case. The public body must have the request reviewed by someone more senior than the person who made the original decision. The reviewer can change or agree with the original decision. If the requester is still unhappy with the decision, he or she has the right to appeal the decision to the Information Commissioner. The Commissioner has been appointed specifically to hear appeals from members of the public who are not happy with decisions made on their requests.

7. Is there a charge for getting information under the FOI Act?
   Requesters can be charged but only for the time spent finding records that are to be given to them, and for any photocopying costs incurred by the public body in providing material to the requester. Such costs are unlikely to arise in the case of personal information. Requesters can not be charged for the time spent on deciding whether or not to grant their request.

8. Do I need to make a FOI request to get information from public bodies ?
   No. Public bodies routinely make information available to the public through information leaflets, publications and in response to enquiries. This will continue. FOI provides an additional source of information by facilitating access to records not routinely available.

9. What are the benefits of FOI ?
   The Act will provide for greater access to official information by citizens. The experience of other countries with FOI legislation is that, because the records produced by public servants are more likely to be seen by the public, the process of making decisions and giving reasons for them has improved greatly.