What is Freedom of Information ?
Location : Maritana Gate, Canada St, Waterford.
Opening Hours : Monday to Friday 9am - 4pm.
Contact person : Aideen Jacob.
Telephone : 051-849921
E-mail : ajacob@waterfordcity.ie
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 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 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 051-849921 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