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Information Manual (S15)

APPLICATIONS FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE ACT

Under the FOI Act, anyone is entitled to apply for access to information which is not otherwise publicly available. In general, each person has a right to :

1. access to records held by the Office
2. correction of personal information relating to oneself held by the Office where it is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading
3. access to reasons for decisions made by the Office directly affecting oneself.

However, and as explained above, these rights are restricted in the case of the Ombudsman's Office in that records relating to the examination or investigation of complaints by the Ombudsman are excluded from the scope of the FOI Act.

Bearing these restrictions in mind, the following records, held by the Office of the Ombudsman, come within the scope of the Act:

- all records relating to personal information held by the Office, irrespective of when created
- all other records created after commencement date i.e. 21 April 1998
- any other records necessary to an understanding of a record which is available under the FOI Act
- personnel records, provided they were created not earlier than three years before the commencement of the Act i.e. after 21 April 1995; personnel records created before that date will be available only where they continue to be relied upon in a way which materially affects the subject

The Office will acknowledge a request within two weeks and will respond within four weeks. Reasonable assistance will be given to persons to formulate their requests in such a way as to identify the particular record being sought. Requesters will be informed individually of their right to seek a review of any decision made under the Act.

Requests under the FOI Act should be made to:

Brendan O'Neill,
Head of Administration,
Office of the Ombudsman,
18 Lr. Leeson St.
Dublin 2.

Fax: 01-6610570
Tel: 01-6785222
e-mail: ombudsman@ombudsman.irlgov.ie

FOI requests should be made in writing and, in order to avoid any possible confusion, should specify that the request is being made under the FOI Act. If there is a desired form in which the information should be provided, e. g. photocopy, computer diskette, this should be mentioned in the request. Requesters should give as much detail as possible in order to enable the record sought to be identified. If there is any difficulty in identifying the record required, the staff of the Office will be happy to assist in preparing the request.

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