Review of the Freedom of Information Act
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From: Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation
- Published on: 22 October 2021
- Last updated on: 22 June 2022
How the Freedom of Information Act works now
The Freedom of Information Act, 2014 set out that people have the right to:
- access official records held by government departments
- have personal information held on them corrected or updated where such information is incomplete, incorrect or misleading
- be given reasons for decisions taken by public bodies that affect them
How FOI works in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Review of the Freedom of Information Act
It was announced by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath, in September 2021 that Cabinet approval was achieved for a review into the Freedom of Information Act is to take place.
"the review process... will be collaborative, taking in perspectives from the public sector, academia, activists, journalists, and other stakeholders, as well as consulting with the general public”.
A public consultation on the scope of the review was carried out at the end of 2021. This allowed stakeholders to shape the issues and themes to be considered in the follow on public consultation for the review of the FOI Act.
Alongside this, the department recently carried out a customer satisfaction survey and will be commencing a project to estimate the cost of Freedom of Information to the exchequer before year end.
Based on the insights and themes identified from the scoping survey, the department published a consultation paper and a full public consultation opened on the 16th of June 2022.
This will be accompanied by regional events to raise awareness of the review and extend its reach. This consultation document will be accompanied by other research work, including an assessment of international best practices, case studies, focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders.
It is intended that research work will be concluded later in the year, and a report and recommendations presented to the government and published at that point.
