Cinneadh
Mr. A and Dublin City Council
Ó Oifig an Choimisinéara Faisnéise
Cásuimhir: OIC-140202-P2S7C2
Foilsithe
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Ó Oifig an Choimisinéara Faisnéise
Cásuimhir: OIC-140202-P2S7C2
Foilsithe
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Whether the Council was justified in refusing access, under section 37(1) of the FOI Act, to details of properties operated by private operators and NGOs in the provision of homeless accommodation from 2018 to April 2023
17 December 2024
In a request dated 18 April 2023, the applicant sought access to records relating to the provision of homeless accommodation. Specifically, he sought a list of all homeless accommodation centres operated by private operators to include the address of each centre and the year in which it came into service (part 1). He also sought a list of homeless accommodation centres operated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including the address of each centre, the year it came into service and the name of the provider (part 2). He specified the relevant timeframe as being from 2018 to the date of his request. He also asked that the Council specify if the relevant centre is no longer in operation. In a decision dated 16 May 2023, the Council part-granted the request. In respect of part 1, it refused access to details of emergency accommodation facilities operated by private operators under section 37(1) of the Act. In respect of part 2, it provided details of the relevant NGO providers but withheld details of the address of each centre under section 37(1). It highlighted certain centres as being no longer in operation. In respect of both parts, it also refused details of the year each centre came into service under section 15(1)(a) on the ground that it holds no relevant records.
On 24 May 2023, the applicant sought an internal review of the Council’s decision. He made submissions in respect of the Council’s reliance on section 37(1). He acknowledged that the Council’s decision letter stated that it does not possess information regarding the opening years of emergency accommodation centres. He asked for certain other information instead: a list of emergency accommodation centres currently operational and a list of emergency accommodation centres that have been operational at any point since 2018. On 16 June 2023, the Council issued its internal review decision, affirming the original decision made. On 26 June 2023, the applicant applied to this Office for a review of the Council’s decision.
The review was put on hold in August 2023 pending the outcome of a High Court case which concerned a similar request to the Council. A judgment in that High Court case was adjourned generally pending two outstanding Supreme Court judgments. By consent, the decision under appeal before the High Court was subsequently remitted to this Office for fresh consideration. The review in the case was recommenced in May 2024.
I have now completed my review in accordance with section 22(2) of the FOI Act. In carrying out my review, I have had regard to the submissions made by the Council and the applicant. I have also examined the records at issue. I have decided to conclude this review by way of a formal, binding decision.
As I have outlined above, the Council refused the request for details of the year each centre came into operation under section 15(1)(a) of the Act on the ground that no record containing those details exist. In its decision letters, it provided the applicant with details of searches undertaken and said that in order to collate the information requested, the file for each facility operating since 2018 would need to be searched and a new record created. As the applicant appeared to have accepted this position in his application for internal review, the Investigator contacted him and outlined her understanding of the scope of the review. She noted that he appeared to have effectively accepted the Council’s position. She also noted that while he requested certain other information at that stage, it was not possible to expand the scope of an FOI request at internal review stage or during a review by this Office. In response, the applicant said that he understood that the Council might not possess records specifying the opening year of each centre and confirmed that he was happy to exclude this matter from the scope of the review.
In his communications with this Office during the course of the review, the applicant stated that he was requesting the release of all other elements of his inquiry, including “a list of the private operators and their addresses”. I note that in his original request, the applicant specifically sought the names of the NGO providers at part 2 but did not seek the names of the private operators at part 1. The Council confirmed that its understanding was that the applicant was not seeking the identity of relevant private operators but was seeking the names of relevant NGOs/voluntary organisations. Having considered the specific wording of the original request, I am satisfied that the Council’s approach was appropriate and that the names of private operators do not come within the scope of his original request or this review. It is open to the applicant to make a separate request for such information.
Moreover, as noted above, in his original request the applicant asked that the Council specify if the relevant centre is no longer in operation. In record 2, which has been part-granted, the Council highlighted, in red, services which it said were no longer in operation. On foot of queries from this Office, it confirmed that all of the accommodation listed in record 1 remains in operation. I am satisfied that the Council has therefore addressed this aspect of the applicant’s request and I will not consider it further except insofar as is relevant to my consideration of section 37 of the Act.
Accordingly, the scope of this review is concerned solely with whether the Council was justified in refusing access, under section 37(1) of the Act, to the property name and address of each centre operated by private operators during the period in question and to the address of each centre operated by NGOs during the same period.
Before I address the substantive issues, I would like to make two preliminary comments. First, it is important to note that section 22(12)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a decision to refuse to grant a request under section 12 shall be presumed not to have been justified unless the head of the relevant FOI body shows to the Commissioner's satisfaction that its decision was justified. This means that the onus is on the Council to satisfy this Office that its decision to refuse access to the information at issue was justified.
Secondly, throughout its submissions the Council referenced the perspective of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (the DRHE). The applicant’s request also referenced the DRHE. The DRHE is provided by the Council as the lead statutory local authority in the response to homelessness in Dublin. It adopts a shared service approach across South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. References to the Council in this decision include references to the DRHE where relevant.
Section 22(6) of the FOI Act requires the Commissioner to notify the following parties of his proposal to review a decision of an FOI body: the head of the FOI body; the applicant, in the case of a decision in respect of a request to which section 38 relates; the original requester; and any other person who, in his opinion, should be notified.
Section 24 of the FOI Act provides that a party to a review or any other person affected by a decision of the Commissioner may appeal against that decision to the High Court on a point of law. Section 22(10) requires the Commissioner to notify his decision to any person to whom, in his opinion, it should be notified. Any person who would be affected by his decision should be notified, thus giving the person an opportunity to exercise his/her rights under section 24. Thus, a guideline for deciding whether or not to notify a third party under section 22(6) is whether that person is likely to be affected by the decision of the Commissioner. I have carefully considered whether any other parties should be notified of the review and be provided with an opportunity to make submissions.
The Council’s decision to withhold certain information in this case is based on its concerns that release could affect the privacy rights of those accessing emergency accommodation. Based on those concerns, I considered whether a notification process under section 22(6) might be required. It is important to note that the information at issue does not mention or reference any identifiable individuals. However, where information may not, on the face of it, be about an identifiable individual, it may be possible for the release of such information to involve the disclosure of personal information about an identifiable individual. I will consider this further in my analysis in respect of section 37 below. In respect of consultation, however, the fact that no individuals are directly referenced in the records makes if difficult, if not impossible, to determine who should be notified. Given that homelessness is often a temporary state with people accessing emergency accommodation services for differing lengths of time, it is not clear to me how potentially affected individuals could be identified for the purpose of consulting with them. Even if it was possible to determine which individuals had accessed the relevant accommodation, I do not believe that it would be feasible for this Office to engage in consultation at that scale. I considered whether any representative organisations exist which could be consulted to provide input on behalf of individuals and households experiencing homelessness. However, those experiencing homelessness are not a homogenous group and I am not confident that an organisation could be identified that would be able to speak on behalf of the individuals the Council claims will be affected by release.
Having given careful consideration to the above, and having regard to my analysis as set out below, I am satisfied that it was neither feasible nor necessary to consult with any particular individuals.
The Council’s stated position is that as the disclosure of named premises and their addresses would inadvertently enable service users to be identified, it has withheld the information under section 37(1) of the FOI Act. That section provides for the mandatory refusal of a request where access to the record sought would involve the disclosure of personal information relating to an individual other than the requester. For the purposes of the Act, personal information is defined as information about an identifiable individual that either (a) would ordinarily be known only to the individual or members of the family, or friends, of the individual, or (b) is held by an FOI body on the understanding that it would be treated by that body as confidential.
In its submissions, the Council said that it is the policy of the DRHE not to disclose named premises being used to provide accommodation to households experiencing homelessness, as the name of premises could inadvertently enable users of the service to be identified as homeless against their wishes.
The Council said that at the end of March 2024, there were 5,940 households comprising 10,180 individuals being accommodated in homeless services across the Dublin region. It outlined its view that the release and potential publication of the names and addresses of services accommodating these households could inadvertently identify households as experiencing homelessness. It said that this could occur by virtue of them being associated with these addresses in their workplace, place of education, place of worship and to family and friends. It said that this could cause undue stress to the households involved.
The Council said that it has a duty to treat this information in confidence and noted that families and individuals accessing homeless accommodation are some of the most vulnerable in our society. It said that “in a lot of cases these clients have not disclosed their living situation to those around them”. It noted that release under FOI is effectively release to the world at large and said that individuals residing at the premises would be identified as homeless leaving them open to the stigma still associated with accessing such services. The Council said that this is of particular concern when considering the welfare of children accessing accommodation and the potential consequences to their wellbeing should their status as homeless be disclosed.
The applicant did not make substantive submissions in his application to this Office. However, in his request for an internal review, he said that identifying a location as an emergency accommodation facility does not disclose the identities of the individuals utilising the services. He said it is not equivalent to revealing a client list. He argued that by the same reasoning, the Council would have to withhold the locations of methadone clinics in order to prevent service user identification. He said that government departments that fund refugee/asylum accommodation would need to withhold the names and locations of those services for the same reason. He also noted that the Council has already released the names and locations of specific emergency accommodation facilities in other instances. He referenced council meeting minutes and responses to other FOI requests.
In communications with this Office during the course of the review, the applicant noted that the redaction of addresses seemed “unnecessary” considering that similar information is already publically available elsewhere. He referenced annual reports published by relevant NGOs and he provided a link to a particular report which is available on the DRHE website. It is a financial report for the year ending 2021. It lists different categories of accommodation and support services and includes the names of facilities and relevant service providers. Many of the facility names include detailed addresses. The existence and availability of this report was brought to the attention of the Council. In response, it said that the report is published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It said that while it recognises that some services are named, the report in question is not a DRHE report and it is still the policy of the DRHE not to release the names and addresses of services accommodating households experiencing homelessness.
During the course of the review, and on foot of queries raised by this Office, the Council provided further information about the nature of the accommodation listed in respect of part 1 of the request. The Council said that the nature of the private accommodation listed therein varies. It said certain properties are commercial hotels/hostels/guesthouses, some only provide homeless accommodation, while others also accommodate paying guests. It said that some of the properties listed are private and never operated as guest accommodation. The Council noted that many of these properties are effectively large houses which were identified by the Council as suitable for the provision of emergency accommodation. The Council said that certain other properties listed were commercial premises which were repurposed to provide emergency accommodation.
The Council also stated that the length of stay in the listed accommodation varies. It said that some individuals or households might be accommodated in the same premises for over six, 12 or 18 months, while others might be accommodated for a short period of time on a self-accommodation basis.
The substantive issue I must consider is whether the release of the withheld information would involve the disclosure of personal information such that section 37(1) would apply. As noted above, for information to qualify as personal information, it must be information about an identifiable individual. It is important to note that the addresses listed represent properties that were used to provide homeless accommodation from 2018 to April 2023. Given the historic nature of the information and the generally temporary nature of emergency accommodation, I am not satisfied that the release of the information would involve the disclosure of personal information relating to individuals who may have resided in any of the properties during the relevant time period.
However, this does not appear to be the Council’s primary concern. In essence, its argument appears to be that release of the addresses would allow for the identification of residents of those properties that continue to operate as homeless accommodation providers as homeless. In respect of how such identification would occur, the Council referenced individuals being associated with the relevant address in their workplace, place of education, place of worship or to family and friends. In effect, it seems to be arguing that an individual or household experiencing homelessness might provide, for example, their employer with their current address and that by virtue of the release of the records at issue, that employer would be able to establish that the address provided is homeless accommodation.
While not an express argument advanced by the Council, I have also considered whether the release of the locations of such accommodation could reasonably be expected to result in the disclosure of personal information by virtue of the fact that individuals residing in the locale may deduce or assume that those entering and exiting the premises are experiencing homelessness.
As noted above, the Council has confirmed that all of the accommodation in record 1 and the majority of accommodation in record 2 remains in use for the provision of homeless services. In respect of the limited accommodation which is no longer in use, I do not accept that the release of relevant addresses could reasonably be expected to disclose personal information about an identifiable individual. The fact that the accommodation is no longer in use undermines any argument that an individual currently accessing the service could be identified as experiencing homelessness. As such, I am not satisfied that the release of the information highlighted in red in record 2 would involve the disclosure of personal information relating to any third party individuals.
I have carefully considered the remaining information withheld from the records and the arguments advanced by the parties. The applicant has sought to distinguish between the information at issue in this case and information such as client lists. His position is that identifying a location as an emergency accommodation facility does not disclose the identities of the individuals utilising the services. The Council’s position, on the other hand, is that release could indeed inadvertently enable users of the service to be identified as homeless.
The question I must consider is whether release of the information at issue would involve the disclosure of personal information about identifiable individuals. Where information may not, on its face, appear to be about an identifiable individual, it may still be personal information if it allows the individual to be identified. The remaining information in the records relates to accommodation which is currently used to provide emergency accommodation to those experiencing homelessness. Whether the release of the details of that accommodation would involve the disclosure of personal information relating to identifiable individuals is a close call, in my view.
It seems to me that a certain amount of information concerning the likely housing status of the occupants of many of the properties is already widely known. I note, for example, the Council’s comments that many of the properties in question are commercial properties and/or effectively large houses which were identified as suitable for the provision of emergency accommodation. It seems to me that many occupants of such properties, comprising multi-occupancy dwellings, would be widely known to be in temporary accommodation. Moreover, I note that the applicant has already drawn attention to the fact that details of similar properties have previously been published. While the Council expressly acknowledged that the details of some services have been made public, it simply said that it does not publish such detail as a matter of policy.
Nevertheless, I accept, on balance, that the fact that some of the properties on the lists are providing homeless accommodation may not be in the public domain. The Council has said that some individuals or households might be accommodated in the same premises for over six, 12 or 18 months. In such circumstances, I accept that neighbours and those living in the locality could identify certain identifiable individuals as experiencing homelessness.
I am satisfied that information concerning a person’s housing status meets the definition of personal information in section 2. I accept that it comprises information which would, in the ordinary course of events, be known only to the individual or members of the family, or friends, of the individual. Accordingly, I find that section 37(1) of the Act applies to the information at issue on the ground that its disclosure would involve the disclosure of personal information relating to users of the services in question. However, that is not the end of the matter as section 37(1) is subject to the other provisions of section 37.
Section 37(2) of the FOI Act sets out certain circumstances in which section 37(1) does not apply if;
a) subject to subsection (3), the information concerned relates to the requester concerned,
b) any individual to whom the information relates consents, in writing or such other form as may be determined, to its disclosure to the requester,
c) information of the same kind as that contained in the record in respect of individuals generally, or a class of individuals that is, having regard to all the circumstances, of significant size, is available to the general public,
d) the information was given to the FOI body concerned by the individual to whom it relates and the individual was informed on behalf of the body, before its being so given, that the information belongs to a class of information that would or might be made available to the general public, or
e) disclosure of the information is necessary in order to avoid a serious and imminent danger to the life or health of an individual,
I am satisfied that subsections (a), (b), (d) and (e) do not apply in this case. In his request for an internal review and in correspondence with this Office, the applicant stated that the Council has already released the names and locations of specific emergency accommodation centres. He said that these can be found “sporadically” in council meeting minutes and he said that the Council previously provided similar information through FOI. He said that the information is included in annual reports published by the NGO providers and he also drew attention to a financial end-of-year report for 2021 which includes the names of emergency accommodation facilities and relevant providers. The report is available on the Council’s website. Such submissions were brought to the attention of the Council and it was invited to provide a response. The Council provided limited submissions. It said that the report referenced is published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It said that while it recognises that some services are named in the report, it said that it is not a DRHE report and that it is still the policy of the Council to not release the names and addresses of services accommodating households experiencing homelessness. More generally, the Council’s stated position is that none of the provisions of section 37(2) serve to disapply subsection (1).
While I note that the applicant has been able to identify certain publically available records which contain information relating to the locations of emergency accommodation, I am not satisfied that it can be said that the personal information that the release of the records may disclose is of the same kind that is already available to the general public. In order to illustrate and explain this finding, it may be useful to consider a recent decision where the Commissioner did find that section 37(2)(c) applied. Case OIC-127176 concerned records relating to a decision of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The Commissioner found that WRC hearings are generally open to the public and that decisions are published in full on its website. Accordingly, it was found that subsection (c) applied. By comparison; it is not clear to me that the type of information at issue in this review is consistently available as distinct from certain details being included in financial reporting documentation. As such, I am satisfied that section 37(2)(c) does not serve to disapply subsection (1).
Section 37(5) of the FOI Act provides that a request that would fall to be refused under section 37(1) may still be granted where, on balance (a) the public interest that the request should be granted outweighs the right to privacy of the individual to whom the information relates, or (b) the grant of the information would be to the benefit of the person to whom the information relates. I am satisfied that the relevant individuals whose privacy rights the Council is seeking to protect would not benefit from the release of the information at issue and I find that section 37(5)(b) does not apply.
In considering whether a right of access exists to records under section 37(5)(a), any decision to grant access would be on the basis that there is an overriding public interest in the release of the records effectively to the world at large that outweighs the privacy rights of the third party individuals concerned.
The Council made submissions in respect of the public interest balancing test. It acknowledged the public interest in transparency around which entities are being contracted to provide services. It said that the DRHE has addressed this in other requests by providing the names of entities providing private emergency accommodation services without providing specific addresses or identifiable details. It said that this was not a factor in this specific request as the applicant explicitly asked for a list of the accommodation and the address of each.
It terms of the public interest factors weighing against release, the Council referenced the DRHE policy of not releasing the names and addresses of the services accommodating households experiencing homelessness as this could inadvertently publicly identify them as experiencing homelessness against their wishes, causing undue stress. The Council said that its view is that naming specific homeless services and inadvertently allowing households to be identified as homeless is not in the public interest. It said that the need to protect the anonymity of those using services, in order to maintain their confidentiality, outweighs the need for services to be explicitly named publicly. It went on to outline in full the factors it considered in arriving at its position. In respect of the public interest in favour of release, it referenced ensuring openness and transparency, members of the public exercising their rights under FOI, and the fact that there is more than just a transitory interest by the public in this information. In respect of the public interest against release, it referenced allowing a public body to hold personal information without undue access, the organisation being able to conduct its business in a confidential manner, a reasonable and implied expectation that personal information pertaining to vulnerable clients will remain confidential, and the individuals’ right to privacy.
In his submissions to this Office, the applicant said that the redaction of the addresses of the facilities “seems unnecessary, considering similar information is already publicly available elsewhere”. In his application for an internal review, he said that identifying a location as emergency accommodation does not disclose the identities of individuals using the service. He said it is “not equivalent to revealing a client list”. He said that using the same reasoning, the Council would have to withhold the locations of methadone clinics it funds to prevent service user identification. He said, similarly, that government departments that fund refugee/asylum accommodation would need to withhold the names and locations of these centres for the same reason.
In considering where the balance of the public interest lies in this case, I have had regard to section 11(3) of the Act which provides that in performing any functions under the Act, an FOI body must have regard to, among other things, the need to achieve greater openness in the activities of FOI bodies and to promote adherence by them to the principles of transparency in government and public affairs and the need to strengthen the accountability and improve the quality of decision-making of FOI bodies. However, in doing so, I have also had regard to the judgment of the Supreme Court in The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Information Commissioner & Ors [2020] IESC 57 (the eNet case). In that case, the Supreme Court found that a general principle of openness does not suffice to direct release of records in the public interest and “there must be a sufficiently specific, cogent and fact-based reason to tip the balance in favour of disclosure”. Although the Court’s comments were made in cases involving confidentiality and commercial sensitivity, I consider them to be relevant to the consideration of public interest tests generally.
Both the language of section 37 and the Long Title to the FOI Act recognise that there is a strong public interest in protecting the right to privacy. The right to privacy also has a constitutional dimension, as one of the unenumerated personal rights under the Constitution. Privacy rights will therefore be set aside only where the public interest served by granting the request (and breaching those rights) is sufficiently strong to outweigh the public interest in protecting privacy. Moreover, even where an overriding public interest in granting the request exists, there is a discretionary element to the application of section 37(5)(a).
It is worth noting however, that the protection afforded to privacy rights is a spectrum and can vary depending on, for example, the sensitivity of the information at issue and the extent of the privacy breach. As I have explained above, a certain amount of information concerning the likely housing status of the occupants of many of the properties in question is already widely known. Moreover, it seems to me that the current housing crisis is so widespread and so severe that any stigma that might have (wrongly) attached to individuals regarded as homeless in the past has long since significantly diminished. Individuals from all walks of life and from a broad range of socio-economic backgrounds now regularly find themselves in need of accommodation, through no fault of their own. As such, while I accept that the release of information that would allow for the identification of individuals as availing of homeless accommodation services would, indeed, involve the disclosure of personal information, it seems to me that any resultant breach of privacy rights, in the current economic climate, would be less severe that it might otherwise have been in the past.
In addition, I must again note that the records at issue do not directly disclose any personal information. The disclosure of such information is dependent on a third party having the requisite knowledge to be able to identify an individual accessing the accommodation. The Council’s arguments that the release of the information at issue would breach privacy rights are largely based on a concern about inferences that might be drawn about the individuals availing of homeless accommodation services, as opposed to any concrete or certain disclosure of personal information.
Furthermore, it seems to me that the temporary nature of homelessness also serves to limit the extent of any privacy breach. While the Council has said that some households can be accommodated in emergency accommodation for over 18 months, others access services for much shorter periods of time. It seems to me that an individual or household residing in homeless accommodation for a number of days or weeks is less likely to be identified. In sum, it seems to me that the weight to be afforded to the right to privacy in this particular case is low, given the inferential nature of the personal information, the temporary nature of homelessness and the fact that it is increasingly better understood, and the extent to which related relevant information is already in the public domain.
On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the issue of homelessness and the measures being taken by the State for addressing same is of enormous public interest. The housing and homelessness crisis has given rise to a significant and unprecedented reliance on emergency accommodation, much of which is provided by NGOs and by the private sector but paid for by the State. There is a strong public interest in allowing for public scrutiny of how those services are delivered and administered. I note, for example, that the National Quality Standards Framework for Homeless Services in Ireland (NQSF), which was developed by the DRHE on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, includes as one of its standards a physical environment that promotes the safety, health and well-being of service users. It seems to me that the release of the records at issue would allow for more detailed scrutiny of how the Council is addressing homelessness and delivering homeless services.
I would add that while the records at issue in this case do not include financial information, it is relevant, in my view, that the provision of homeless accommodation through the private sector has given rise to significant, unprecedented, levels of public expenditure. The services listed in the records are State-funded and the amount of public monies that has been expended and continues to be expended on the provision of homeless accommodation is very significant. In the case of Industrial Development Agency (Ireland) v the Information Commissioner [2024] IEHC 649, the Court found the public interest in ensuring the proper management and use of public funds to be a legitimate public interest. While the release of the records at issue will not disclose the amount of public funds involved, its release would certainly allow for scrutiny of how such public funds are being used. It is also relevant to note that the very existence of secrecy carries with it the scope for abuse. In contrast, openness in relation to the types and levels of services obtained through the use of public funds is an important additional safeguard against abuses of all kind.
Moreover, the Council acknowledges that individuals and households accessing emergency accommodation may be particularly vulnerable. In that context, it again seems to me that secrecy in respect of homeless services carries with it the scope for abuse. Openness in relation to the provision of such services is an important additional safeguard against abuses of all kind. The Irish State has a documented history of institutional secrecy and resultant abuse. As such, there is a strong public interest in openness about State service provision. It seems to me that by knowing the number of facilities in use, the type of those facilities, and where they are located, members of the public will be better able to scrutinise the Council’s approach to a persistent social and economic crisis. I consider the public interest in the disclosure of the records at issue to be of great significance. Having balanced that public interest against the privacy rights engaged, which as I have noted, are afforded a lesser weight in the current case, I am satisfied that the public interest in disclosing the withheld information outweighs the public interest in protecting the privacy rights of the individuals concerned. Accordingly, I find that section 37(1) does not serve to exempt the information at issue.
Having carried out a review under section 22(2) of the FOI Act, I hereby annul the Council’s decision. I find that it was not justified in refusing access, under section 37(1) of the Act, to the property name and address of each centre operated by private operators from 2018 to April 2023 and to the address of each centre operated by NGOs during the same period. I direct the release of the information.
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.
Stephen Rafferty
Senior Investigator