Decision
Mr Y and Department of Finance
From Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC)
Case number: OIC-162525-S0N6M4
Published on
From Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC)
Case number: OIC-162525-S0N6M4
Published on
Whether the Department was justified in charging the fee, provided for under section 27(13)(a)(i) of the FOI Act, to carry out an internal review of its original decision on the applicant’s FOI request
2 December 2025
On 17 August 2025, the applicant sought access to a broad range of records and information which he said, “pertain to the economic and fiscal consequences of sustained non-European migration to Ireland”.
On 19 August 2025, the Department contacted the applicant about narrowing the scope of his request. On 12 September 2025, following an exchange of correspondence between the parties, the Department refused the applicant’s request under sections 12(1)(b) and 15(1)(c) of the FOI Act, due to its non-specific and voluminous nature. In its decision letter, the Department informed the applicant of his right of appeal under the FOI Act and explained that a fee of €30 (€10 for a medical card holder) applies for an internal review of its decision, where the request relates to non-personal information.
On 12 September 2025, the applicant sought an internal review of the Department’s decision. He said the Department had misapplied sections 12(1)(b) and section 15(1)(c) and failed to comply with section 15(4) of the Act. The applicant said he will not be paying an internal review fee and will not be narrowing the scope of his request. The Department informed the applicant that it would not waive the fee for the internal review and directed him to the appeals process outlined in its decision.
On 14 September 2025, the applicant applied to this Office for a review of the Department’s decision to charge a fee to process his request for an internal review.
I have now completed my review in accordance with section 22(2) of the FOI Act. In carrying out this review, I have had regard to the correspondence outlined above and to the submissions made by both parties. I have decided to conclude this review by way of a formal binding decision.
This review is concerned solely with whether the Department was justified in charging the applicant a fee, provided for under section 27(13) of the FOI Act, to carry out an internal review of its original decision on the applicant’s FOI request.
This review is not concerned with the substantive decision made by the Department on the applicant’s request. Should the applicant choose to pay the fee for an internal review, it will be open to him to make a new application to this Office for a review of the Department’s substantive decision if he is not satisfied with its internal review decision.
Section 27(13)(a)(i) of the FOI Act provides that a fee of such amount (if any) as may be prescribed shall (my emphasis) be charged by the FOI body and paid by the applicant to the body in respect of an application for internal review under section 21. These application fees are sometimes referred to as ‘up-front’ fees. The prescribed fee is set out in the Freedom of Information Act (Fees)(No.2) Regulations 2014 [S.I. No. 531 of 2014] (hereafter the Regulations). Under Regulation 4, a fee of €30 is prescribed for such applications, or €10 in the case of a medical card holder or a dependant of a medical card holder.
Under the Regulations, a fee is not payable in respect of an application for internal review where:
a) the record(s) contain only personal information relating to the applicant,
b) the application is in relation to a decision under section 9 or 10 or,
c) the application is in relation to a decision to charge a fee or deposit, or a fee or deposit of a particular amount, under section 27.
The Regulations do not contain any other exceptions to the prescribed fee for an application for internal review. It is clear, therefore, that the FOI Act requires applicants to pay a fee to the FOI body when requesting an internal review of its original decision where their FOI request concerns access to non-personal information. It is also clear that the applicant’s FOI request seeks access to records containing non-personal information and not records that contain only personal information relating to the applicant.
In his correspondence with this Office, the applicant said that the Department’s demand for €30 is ultra vires on the ground that no valid deposit notice under section 27(12) has issued, and no breakdown of staff grades, time, or methodology has been provided. He also said that section 27(5)(b) requires waiver of fees where disclosure serves/is in the public interest, and Regulation 3(2) of S.I. 531/2014 prohibits charging where records relate to matters of significant public interest in understanding Government activities. He said that this waiver is mandatory in these circumstances.
While section 27 of the FOI Act provides for the making of a charge by FOI bodies for the cost of the search for, retrieval of and copying (SRC) of records in respect of the grant of an FOI request, as outlined above, it also provides separately for the imposition of application fees in respect of a request for internal review. It seems to me that the applicant is confusing the provisions in the FOI Act whereby an FOI body can charge a fee to search and retrieve the records sought with the fee provided in the Act to process a request for internal review. For the benefit of the applicant, I would direct him to the Guidance Note on Fees and Charges that is available at www.oic.ie www.oic.ie which explains the separate provisions in the Act for search and retrieval fees and for application fees when making a request for internal review (and reviews by this Office). As this case is not concerned with search and retrieval fees, the applicant’s arguments in this regard are not relevant here.
The language of the Act is clear that the charging of an upfront fee for an internal review is mandatory and must be paid prior to an FOI body accepting a request for an internal review. Where the appropriate fee is not paid, the body shall refuse to accept the application, and it is deemed, for the purposes of the FOI Act, not to have been made. While there are specific circumstances as outlined above where no fee applies, such as requests for personal information, it is clear that none of those circumstances apply in this case. In the circumstances, I am satisfied that the Department was justified in requiring the applicant to pay the appropriate fee for an internal review of its decision and I find accordingly.
If the applicant wishes to proceed with his request for internal review, he must pay the appropriate fee to the Department. If he does proceed and is unhappy with the Department’s internal review decision, a right of appeal to this Office will apply.
Having carried out a review under section 22(2) of the FOI Act, I hereby affirm the Department’s decision to levy the fee prescribed in the Regulations and provided for under section 27(13)(a)(i) of the FOI Act to carry out an internal review of its decision on the applicant’s FOI request.
Section 24 of the FOI Act sets out detailed provisions for an appeal to the High Court by a party to a review, or any other person affected by the decision. In summary, such an appeal, normally on a point of law, must be initiated not later than four weeks after notice of the decision was given to the person bringing the appeal.
Richard Crowley
Investigator