Reports of the Information Commissioner to the Joint Committee

FOI and non-disclosure provisions

Section 41 of the FOI Act 2014 provides for the mandatory refusal of access to records whose disclosure is prohibited, or whose non-disclosure is authorised, by other enactments. The corresponding section of the FOI Act 1997 was section 32. Section 41 subordinates the access provisions of the Act to all non-disclosure provisions in statutes except for those cited in the Third Schedule to the Act.

Section 41 also provides for the review by a Joint Committee of both Houses of the Oireachtas of the operation of any enactments that authorise or require the non-disclosure of records to determine whether they should be amended or repealed, or be added to the Third Schedule.

All Government Ministers are obliged to furnish to the Joint Committee a report on the provisions of any enactments within their respective area of governance that authorise or require the non-disclosure of records, specifying whether they consider any of the provisions should be amended, repealed, or added to the Third Schedule. Ministers are required to lay their reports before the Oireachtas and to furnish this Office with a copy. The Information Commissioner is entitled to furnish their opinions and conclusions on the reports to the Joint Committee and, indeed, must do so if requested by the Joint Committee.

Below you can view a number of previous Commissioners' reports to the Joint Committee under section 32 of the 1997 Act.

You can also view previous Ministerial reports to the Joint Committee through the Houses of the Oireachtas Library and Research Service search facility, available here, by searching for the term "section 32 freedom".