Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 1997, came into force on the 21st April 1998 and created the following three new legal rights for members of the public:

• a right for each person to access information held by public bodies;
• a right for each person to have official information relating to him/herself amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading;
• a right to obtain reasons for decisions affecting him/herself.

An act to amend the FOI Act 1997, known as the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003, was signed into law on 11 April 2003. On and from that date all FOI requests must be processed in accordance with the FOI Act 1997 and the FOI (Amendment) Act 2003. The main purpose of the 2003 amendment Act is to provide protection for records relating to the workings of Government.

Records are covered by the FOI Acts

• The following records come within the scope of the Act:
• All records relating to personal information held by the Patents Office, irrespective of when created.
• All other records created from commencement date i.e. 21st April 1998.
• Any other records necessary to the understanding of a current record.
• Personnel records of staff created from 21st April 1995 and those created prior to that date where being used or proposed to be used in a way which adversely affects or may affect the person involved.

Any official records held can be sought under the Acts. However, in certain circumstances it will be necessary to exempt records from release. Sections 19-32 of the 1997 Act outline exemptions which have to be considered. Some key exemptions include:

• Government Records.
• Personal information (other than information relating to the person making the request).
• Information supplied in confidence.
• Law enforcement and public safety.
• Commercially sensitive information.
• Deliberations of public bodies.
• Functions and negotiations of public bodies

The legislation which governs the operations of the Patents Office provides for public access to a considerable amount of information held by the Office.  Access to such information which is outside the scope of the FOI Act, will be made available on the basis of existing legislation. It should be noted that much of the information available is subject to the payment of a fee and as such is outside of the scope of FOI by virtue of Section 46(2) of the FOI Act. Section 46 of the 1997 Act, as amended by the 2003 Act, sets out the restrictions on the application of the FOI Act.

Information in Section 15 and 16 manuals

Further information on the functions and records of the Patents Office is available in a combined Section 15 and 16 FOI Manual FOI 15 and 16 DRAFT December 2009.doc.pdf (0.43 MB, Adobe PDF)  setting out the structure of the organisation, the services provided and the arrangements in place for providing access to information and the rules, guidelines and practices used in decision-making which is published in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1997.

How can an FOI request be made?

Applications under the FOI Act should be made in writing and addressed to:

Yvonne Cassidy           
Freedom of Information Officer
Patents Office                
Government Buildings
Hebron Road
Kilkenny

You may use the form entitled 'Request for Access to Records under the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003' (0.02 MB). State clearly that the request is made under the FOI Acts.

• Identify clearly the records/information sought.
• Specify the manner of access sought i.e. photocopy, computer disk, etc.
• Include a daytime telephone number, if possible, so that you may be contacted quickly if it is necessary to clarify details of your request.

Assistance for members of the public with special needs can be provided on request to the FOI Officer.

Fees 

If your request is for a record containing non-personal information, an application fee of €15 (€10 if you are a medical card holder) must accompany your request.  There is no application fee if your request is for personal information.   The relevant fee should be paid by Bank Draft, Money Order, Postal Order or cheque drawn on a bank in the Republic of Ireland, made payable to "The Patents Office".

Search and Retrieval and Copying Fees

Fees also apply in respect of the time spent searching and retrieving records that are released to you on foot of you request and in respect of the copying of any records released.  Such fees are unlikely to arise if your request is for personal information. The rates of these fees are as follows:

•  €20.95 per hour of search and retrieval
•  €0.04 per sheet for a photocopy
•  €0.51 for a three and a half inch computer diskette containing copy documents
•  €10.16 for a CD-ROM containing copy documents
•  €6.35 for a radiograph (X-ray) containing copy documents

Deposits

A deposit is payable where the estimated cost of search and retrieval of records sought is estimated to exceed €50.79. In such a case, every effort will be made to assist the requester to amend the request so as to reduce or eliminate the amount of the deposit.  

Reductions and Waivers

A fee in respect of search and retrieval and copying of records will be waived where the cost of collecting and accounting for the fee would exceed the amount of the fee itself (a guideline of less than €10 is used in this respect);

A fee in respect of search and retrieval and copying of records or a deposit may be reduced or waived where the information in the record would be of particular assistance to the understanding of an issue of national importance.

A charge applies to most internal and independent reviews (Information Commissioner) concerning access to non-personal records. There is a reduction for medical card holders. These will be notified to you at the appropriate time by the relevant public body.

Useful links

Office of the Information Commissioner - http://www.irlgov.ie/oic/

Central Policy Unit, Department of Finance - http://www.foi.gov.ie/