Freedom of information

Freedom of Information (FOI)

What is the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014?

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 provides that every person has the following legal rights:

• The right to access official records held by Government Departments and all public bodies that conform to the provisions of Section 6 of the Act;
• The right to have personal information held on them corrected or updated where such information is incomplete, incorrect or misleading; and
• The right to be given reasons for decisions taken by public bodies that affect them.

These rights allow people to seek access to personal information held concerning themselves, no matter when the information was created, and to other records created after 21 April, 1998.

Routinely Available Information

The FOI Act is designed to facilitate access to information held by public bodies that is not routinely available. The NTA makes a wide variety of information routinely available to the public in relation to its functions, activities and schemes. These include the following:

• NTA Board Meeting Minutes
• PSO Operator Quarterly Performance Reports. Depending on operator this includes:
  • Punctuality
  • Reliability
  • Punctuality route by route
  • Customer complaints
  • Service quality
• PSO Operator Annual Performance Reports
• Small Public Service Vehicle Statistics
• BusConnects programme
• Connecting Ireland Quarterly Updates
• Current public bus passenger service licences, including the operator name, licence number, origin and destination points
• Fares Determination
• Publications and Statistics
• Parliamentary Questions Reponses by NTA

You may also find the information you are seeking on www.nationaltransport.ie or on the Transport for Ireland www.transportforireland.ie

Publication Scheme

The NTA has prepared a Publication Scheme in accordance with Section 8 of the Act. The Scheme provides comprehensive information in relation to the roles, functions and types of records and information the NTA hold.

Making an FOI Request

To make a FOI Request, you must:

• make it in writing by email or by post
• clearly indicate that the request is being made under the Freedom of Information Act.
• be as specific as possible when detailing your request to enable NTA staff to process your application.

Once completed, you should send your FOI request:

If you wish, you can complete an FOI application form which is available in English or Irish and send this to us. However, you do not need to use this form to make a request.

Timeline for decisions

FOI requests are normally responded to within 4 weeks of receipt.

Charges

Section 27 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 provides for fees and charges. No fees apply where the request involves access to your personal records.

The current fees for non-personal requests are:

* There are no fees where you appeal a decision to charge a fee or deposit, or a fee or deposit of a specific amount. Back to table.

** Reduced fees apply in respect of medical card holders and their dependents. They also apply in respect of third parties who appeal a decision to release their information on public interest grounds. Back to table.

Charges for search, retrieval and copying of records

The NTA may apply charges for the time spent finding and retrieving records, and for any copying costs incurred by it in providing you with the material requested. It is very unlikely that any charges will be applied in respect of personal records, except where a large number of records are involved.

If the cost of search, retrieval and copying is €100 or less, no charge applies. If the charge exceeds €100, full fees apply, but you cannot be charged more than €500.

If the estimated cost of search, retrieval and copying is more than €700, the FOI body can refuse to process your request, unless you revise your request to bring the search, retrieval and copying fees below this limit.

There is an explanation of the fees on foi.gov.ie.

Exemptions

The FOI Act asserts the right of every person to obtain access to official information to the greatest extent possible.  However, to allow for the proper conduct of Government business, including taking into account the interests of third parties dealing with the Government, the Act provides that in some circumstances certain types of information do not have to be released, including records of:

• Government meetings;
• Law enforcement and security;
• Confidential and commercially sensitive information; and
• Matters included in certain enactments for which non-disclosure of records is permitted.

Internal Review

You may appeal a NTA decision on a FOI request by using the same contact details as above.

The internal review process involves a complete reconsideration of the matter by a more senior member of staff than the original decision maker who can amend the original decision.

A request for an internal review should normally be made within 4 weeks from the date of our response (late appeals may be permitted in certain circumstances).

A fee of €30 (€10 for medical card holders) applies to this type of appeal. There is no fee for Internal Review applications concerning:

• personal information only relating to you, or
• a decision to impose a fee or deposit.

Appeal to the Information Commissioner

If you are unhappy with the decision following the Internal Review process, you may appeal the decision in writing to the Office of the Information Commissioner.

A fee of €50 (€15 for medical card holders) may apply to this type of application. There is no fee for appeals to the Office of the Information Commissioner concerning:

• personal information only relating to you, or
• a decision to impose a fee or deposit.

You can make your appeal to the Information Commissioner:

 

Further contact details and information on the Information Commissioner’s Office are on the Office of the Information Commissioner’s (OIC) website www.oic.ie. You can contact them:

 

FOI Disclosure Log

Under Section 48 of the FOI Act, bodies are obliged to have regard to any FOI Code of Practice that is published by the Minister.

The NTA maintains and publishes a log of FOI requests received and the decision made on each request, except in relation to requests for access to personal information.

Further Information

Further information in relation to FOI is available from the following:

• Office of the Information Commissioner
• Central Policy Unit in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
• Freedom of Information Act 2014

The FOI Officer, Dermot O’Gara, can be contacted by telephone at 01 879 8300 or on foi@nationaltransport.ie

Please note that NTA will process any personal data that you provide to us in accordance with our Data Protection Notice