Freedom of Information Act & the HFA
Fees and Charges
Fees will be applied and other charges may be applied.
A. Fees
Regulations have been made by the Minister for Finance prescribing fees for the purposes of section 47(6A) of the Freedom of Information Act 1997. The following fees will apply to FOI requests under section 7 of the FOI Act (requests for access to records) and applications under section 14 (internal review) and 34 (review by Information Commissioner) received on or after 7 July 2003:
Requests for records
- It is free to make an FOI request for a record or records containing non-personal information.
- The following requests/applications are exempt:
(a) a request under section 7 for a record or records containing only personal information related to the requester.
(b) an application under section 17 (right of amendment of records relating to personal information).
(c) an application under section 18 (right of person to information regarding acts of public bodies affecting the person).
Internal Review
- A standard fee of €30 must accompany an application for internal review under section 14.
- A reduced fee of €10 applies if the person bringing the application is a medical card holder or a dependant of a medical card holder.
- The following internal review applications are exempt:
(a) an application in relation to a decision concerning records containing only personal information related to the applicant.
(b) an application in relation to a decision under section 17 (right of amendment of records relating to personal information).
(c) an application in relation to a decision under section 18 (right of person to information regarding acts of pubic bodies affecting the person).
(d) an application in relation to a decision to charge a fee or deposit, or a fee or deposit of a particular amount.
Review by Information Commissioner
- A standard fee of €50 must accompany applications to the Information Commissioner for review of decisions made by public bodies under section 34.
- A reduced fee of €15 applies if
(a) the person bringing the application is a medical card holder or a dependant of a medical card holder or
(b) the person is specified in section 29(2) i.e. a third party with the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner where a public body decides to release their information on public interest grounds.
- The following applications to the Information Commissioner are exempt:
(a) an application concerning records containing only personal information related to the applicant.
(b) an application in relation to a decision under section 17 (right of amendment of records relating to personal information).
(c) an application in relation to a decision under section 18 (right of person to information regarding acts of public bodies affecting the person).
(d) an application in relation to a decision to charge a fee or deposit exceeding €25.00 under section 47 in respect of search and retrieval and photocopying of records (decisions in relation to the charging of fees or deposits for search and retrieval and/or photocopying of less than €25 are not subject to review by the Information Commissioner).
(e) an application in relation to a decision to charge a fee under section 47(6A), or a fee of a particular amount under section 47(6A), on the grounds that the records concerned do not contain only personal information related to the requester or the requester is not a medical card holder or a dependant of a medical card holder.
B. Search and Retrieval and Copying Fee
Fees also apply in respect of the time spent searching and retrieving records that are released to you on foot of your request, and in respect of the copying of any records released. Such fees are unlikely to arise if your request is for personal information. The rates of these fees are as follows:
(a) €20.95 per hour of search and retrieval
(b) €0.04 per sheet for a photocopy
(c) €0.51 for a three and a half inch computer diskette containing copy documents
(d) €10.16 for a CD-ROM containing copy documents
(e) €6.35 for a radiograph (X-Ray) containing copy documents
Deposit
A deposit is payable where the estimated cost of search and retrieval of records sought is estimated to exceed €50.79. In such a case, every effort must be made to assist the requester to amend the request so as to reduce or eliminate the amount of the deposit.
Reductions and Waivers
A fee in respect of search and retrieval and copying of records will be waived where the cost of collecting and accounting for the fee would exceed the amount of the fee itself (a guideline of less than €10 is used in this respect).
A fee in respect of search and retrieval and copying of records or a deposit may be reduced or waived where the information in the record would be of particular assistance to the understanding of an issue of national importance.
