Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act includes that everyone has, from the effective date, the following legal rights:

• the right to access official records held by Government Departments or other public bodies as defined in the Act.;
• the right to have personal information held about them corrected or updated where such information is incomplete, incorrect or misleading;
• the right to give reasons for decisions taken by public bodies affected by those decisions.

Regulations include that parents, guardians and next of kin can exercise these rights in certain circumstances.

These rights mean that individuals can access personal information held about them, regardless of when the information was created, and other records created after the effective date.

• Visit the Freedom of Information Act 2014 on irishstatutebook.ie
• Visit the Freedom of Information Government website at https://foi.gov.ie/
• Visit the Office of the Information Commissioner website at https://www.oic.ie/en/