Freedom of Information

 

The Freedom of Information Acts 1997 came into effect for local authorities from 21st October 1998 and was then updated by the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003.

 

These acts provide the following legal rights to every person :

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

The right to have personal information held 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 since 21st October 1998 people can seek access to personal information held on them no matter when the information was created by Waterford City Council, and to other non-personal records created after 21st October 1998.

 

Requests for records
Requests for information must be submitted in writing addressed to the FOI Officer, City Hall, The Mall, Waterford. All requests must include a statement clearly indicating that the request for information is made under the Freedom of Information Acts.Since 7th July 2003 a standard application fee of €15.00 must accompany an FOI request (Section 7) for a record or records containing non-personal information.   A reduced fee of €10 applies if the person making such a request is covered by a medical card.

Certain other requests / applications are exempt and full details can be obtained by contacting the FOI Officer, at 051-849741 or via email here.

 

Waterford City Council is obliged to :

 

Acknowledge receipt of the request within two weeks.

Make a decision on the request within four weeks, eight weeks in certain cases.

Appeal Process
An internal review may be sought if a requester is not satisfied with a decision made.   The decision will be reviewed by an officer more senior than the original Decision Maker and a result will issue within 3 weeks.   A standard fee of €75 must accompany an application for internal review under Section 14.   A reduced fee of €25 will apply to a medical card holder.Certain other requests / applications are exempt or have reduced fees and full details can be obtained by contacting the FOI Officer.

 

If a requester is still not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, an application may be made to the Information Commissioner at the following address :

 

Office of the Information Commissioner,
18 Lower Leeson Street,
Dublin 2.
Tel:  01 6395689
Email: ombudsman@ombudsman.irlgov.ie