Summary: The Senior Investigator affirmed the decision of the Courts Service.
Date: 01-11-2018
Case Number: 180172
Public Body: Courts Service
Section of the Act.: s.42,
Summary: The Senior Investigator varied the decision of Irish Water. She affirmed the decision of Irish Water to refuse access to a number of records under section 31(1)(a) of the Act on the basis of legal professional privilege. However, she did not accept that the exemption applied to all records as claimed. She annulled its decision on three records and directed their release subject to redaction of third party personal information in one record. She annulled the decision to effectively refuse access to records which came to light in the course of the review and directed Irish Water to undertake a fresh decision making process on those records.
Date: 31-10-2018
Case Number: 180171
Public Body: Irish Water
Section of the Act.: s.31, s.31(1)(a),
Summary: The Senior Investigator affirmed the HSE's decision and found that the withheld parts of the record were exempt under section 37 of the FOI Act.
Date: 31-10-2018
Case Number: 180202
Public Body: Health Service Executive
Section of the Act.: s.32
Summary: The Senior Investigator affirmed the Revenue's refusal of the records under section 37(1) of the FOI Act. She found that they contained personal information about identifiable individuals other than the applicant and that the various exceptions to section 37(1) do not apply. In relation to section 37(5)(a) in particular, she found that the public interest in granting the request does not, on balance, outweigh the public interest in upholding the third parties' rights to privacy.
Date: 31-10-2018
Case Number: 180227
Public Body: Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Section of the Act.: s.37, s.37(1),
Summary: The Senior Investigator affirmed the Agency's decision. She found that section 37(1) of the FOI Act applies to those parts of the records to which access was refused by the Agency, as release of those parts would involve the disclosure of personal information of individuals other than the applicant or joint personal information. She found that, on balance, the public interest that the request should be granted does not outweigh the public interest that the right to privacy of those individuals should be upheld.
Date: 31-10-2018
Case Number: 180341
Public Body: TUSLA
Section of the Act.: s.18
Summary: The Senior Investigator varied the Department's decision. She found that it had not justified its refusal of access under section 29 (deliberative process). She did not accept Airbnb's arguments that the section 35 exemption (confidential information) applies to the records. She affirmed the Department's refusal of access to two records and parts of a third under section 36(1)(b) on the basis that she was satisfied that access could prejudice Airbnb's competitive position in the conduct of its business. She also found that, on balance, the public interest did not weigh in favour of the grant of access to these records. She annulled the Department's refusal of access to the rest of the records and directed that access be granted to them..
Date: 30-10-2018
Case Number: 180209
Public Body: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government
Section of the Act.: s.35,
Summary: The Senior Investigator annulled the decision of the HSE and directed it to undertake a fresh decision-making process on the requests.
Date: 25-10-2018
Case Number: 180225 AND 180240
Public Body: Health Service Executive
Section of the Act.: s.15, s.15(1)(i),
Summary: The Senior Investigator affirmed the decision of the HSE to refuse the request under section 37(3).
Date: 23-10-2018
Case Number: 180326
Public Body: Health Service Executive
Section of the Act.: s.37, s.37(3),
Summary: The Senior Investigator affirmed the decision of the HSE. He found that it was justified in refusing access to further records falling within the scope of the applicant's request on the basis that it had conducted reasonable searches and that section 15(1)(a) of the FOI Act applied.
Date: 22-10-2018
Case Number: 170554
Public Body: HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster
Section of the Act.: s.15
Summary: The Senior Investigator affirmed the PRA's decision, under section 41 of the FOI Act.
Date: 21-10-2018
Case Number: 180251
Public Body: Property Registration Authority
Section of the Act.: