Parole Board Freedom of Information Publication Scheme

The Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI Act) provides, that from the effective date, every person has the following legal rights:

• the right to access official records held by Government Departments or other public bodies as defined by 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.

In accordance with the FOI Act, the Parole Board provides information about the organisation and its activities via its Publication Scheme below. Information will also be available in the Parole Board’s Annual Report.

Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 requires FOI bodies to prepare and publish as much information as possible in an open and accessible manner on a routine basis outside of FOI, having regard to the principles of openness, transparency and accountability as set out in Sections 8(5) and 11(3) of the Act. This allows for the publication or giving of records outside of FOI provided that such publication or giving of access is not prohibited by law. The scheme commits FOI bodies to make information available as part of their normal business activities in accordance with this scheme.

Information on the Parole Board

Members of the Parole Board

Fees payable to Board Members and schedule of fees payable for services provided under the legal Aid scheme panel

Fees payable to Parole Board members

The fees below were sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and are payable to board members:

Schedule of fees under the Parole Board Legal Aid scheme

Schedule of fees under the Parole Board Legal Aid scheme

The Parole Board complies with best practice procedure in public procurement as set out at the eTenders procurement website.

Public contracts awarded over €25,000 are published on etenders.gov.ie in line with Irish law and EU Directives. Details of the contracts over €25,000 awarded by the Parole Board are available here.

The Parole Board’s Procurement Policy:

How to make an FOI request

You may seek an Internal Review of the first FOI decision within 20 working days of the date that we issue the letter to you where:

• we have made a decision to refuse your access request;
• your request for information was only part-granted;
• you are not satisfied with the initial decision;
• search and retrieval charges were applied;
• you have not received a reply within 20 working days of the receipt of the request by us; the FOI Act deems this to be a refusal of your request and allows you to proceed to internal review stage.

You may seek an internal review of the first decision if:

• you are unhappy with the first reply received - that is, refusal of the information, form of access, charges, etc.,

or

• you have not received a reply within 4 weeks of your initial application. This is treated as a refusal of your request and allows you to look for an internal review.

An official at a higher level will carry out this internal review. You will be notified of the result of this review within 15 working days of receipt of your appeal.

There is a fee of €30 for internal review requests. A reduced fee of €10 is payable by medical card holders. There is no fee for internal review applications concerning only personal information relating to oneself or in relation to a decision to impose a fee or deposit.

Requests for internal review

You should send your written request for internal review to:

A request for an internal review must be made within 4 weeks of the first decision.

If you are not satisfied with the Internal Review decision, you may seek an independent review by the Information Commissioner under Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act.

You may also seek a review by the Information Commissioner if you have not received a reply to your internal review request within 3 weeks.

A fee of €50 must accompany most applications for review by the Information Commissioner. A reduced fee of €15 applies if you are covered by a medical card. There is no fee for review applications concerning only personal information relating to oneself or in relation to decisions to impose fees or deposits.

Applications in writing may be made directly to the Office of the Information Commissioner at the following address:

Section 24 of the FOI Act allows for an appeal to the High Court brought by a party to a review, or any other person who is affected by a decision of the Commissioner, on a point of law.

For more information on your right of appeal see section 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014.

Among the rights conferred by the GDPR on ‘data subjects’ is the right to obtain a copy of their personal data which is being processed by the Parole Board. If you would like to make a Subject Access Request please write to the Parole Board, details below, and ask for a copy of your personal data that is held by the Parole Board. In your letter please include such details as current address, previous addresses, reference numbers from previous contact with the Parole Board. You are also required to confirm your identity. Your Subject Access Request will be responded to within one month of the date of receipt or, where difficulty arises in the verification of your identity, within one month of identity verification.

To make a Subject Access Request please write to: