1 Q: What information is available ?

Any official information held by public bodies can be sought under the Act.  However, to allow for the proper conduct of Government business, the Act provides that in some circumstances certain types of information are exempt from release.  Among the exemptions are records relating to:

• Government meetings;
• law enforcement and security;
• confidential and commercially sensitive information; and
• personal information (other than information relating to the person making the request).
  
  

2 Q: How do I make a FOI request ?

Requests should be submitted in writing along with an application fee, if applicable, (see 5 below) to:

FOI Unit,
Department of Transport,
25 Clare Street,
Dublin 2.

Fax: +353 1 6041320,

E-mail: foi@transport.ie

3 Q: Who should I contact ?

The FOI Unit can be contacted by telephone at

01 6041599 Dave Butler,
01 6041561 Avril Ruddy.

4 Q: Will I be charged for making a request ?

The following charges apply in relation to requests for records made under the FOI Act:

Application Fees

• There is no application fee if your request is for personal information only. If your request is for a record containing non-personal information, an application fee of 15 Euro or 10 Euro in the case of a person covered by  a medical card must accompany your request.

Search and Retrieval and Copying Fees

• Fees may also be applied in respect of the time spent searching and retrieving records that are released to you and in respect of copying of such records. These fees are unlikely to arise if your request is for personal information.

All payments to the Department should be made by way of bank draft, money postal order or personal cheque made payable to "The Department of Transport".

5 Q: What can I do if I am not happy with a decision ?

Requesters who are not satisfied with the response they have received or who feel that a proposed charge for search/retrieval or copying of records is excessive can appeal to the Department for an internal review of the decision.

Someone more senior than the original decision-maker will undertake the internal review.  The reviewer can change or agree with the original decision.

There is an application fee of 75 Euro or 25 Euro if covered by a medical card for applications for internal reviews of FOI requests.

If you are unhappy with the decision of the internal reviewer, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner whose contact details are as follows:

Office of the Information Commissioner, 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2   Phone: (01) 6395689 or 1890 223030, Fax (01) 6395674 e-mail: info@oic.ie

There is an application fee of 150 Euro (50 Euro for requests covered by medical cards) for application for review to the Information Commissioner. There is no charge for an application for review to the Information Commissioner of a decision relating to the requester's personal information or a decision to charge fees.

6 Q: Do I need to make a FOI request to get any information from public bodies ?

No. It is a policy of the Department to make as much information as possible available outside of the Freedom of Information process.  To this end we routinely make information available through information leaflets, publications, websites and in response to enquiries. FOI provides an additional source of information by facilitating access to records not made routinely available.

7 Q: Which bodies are covered by the FOI Act ?

The FOI Act applies to all Government Departments, Local Authorities and Health Boards as well as a large number of additional public bodies. A full list of the bodies covered by FOI is available on the FOI website: www.foi.gov.ie

The bodies, under aegis of the Department that currently come under the scope of Freedom of Information are: -

Commission for Aviation Regulation           www.aviationreg.ie

National Roads Authority                              www.nra.ie

Dublin Transportation Office                         www.dto.ie

National Safety Council                                 www.nsc.ie