X and University College Cork

Whether the Body is justified in its decision to withhold certain records in accordance with sections 20 and 21 of the FOI Act.

On 3 August 2010, Mr. Seán Garvey, Senior Investigator in this Office, informed the Body of his outline opinion on the case and sought clarification of the status of the Body's review of its Finance Office. Mr. Garvey explained that if the review had been completed he could not see a basis for exemption of any of the records. He did, however, identify certain information contained in the records at issue which, he considered, constituted the personal information or joint personal information of third parties that should be withheld in accordance with section 28 of the FOI Act.

On 2 September 2010, the Body again asserted that the review was not yet completed and that it still considered that section 20 and 21 of the FOI Act applied. In a further submission of 22 November 2011, it confirmed that this was still its view. In that submission it also indicated that it would be entering into a mediation exercise with the applicant in relation to the restructuring of the Finance Office.

On 21 December 2011, in response to specific queries from this Office, the Body confirmed, inter alia, that the report is complete; that consultations - as opposed to mediation - are not ongoing; that initial feedback on the report arising from the consultation process has been consolidated and that the deliberative process has not developed since its letter of 2 September, 2010.

"a decision to refuse to grant a request under section 7 shall be presumed not to have been justified unless the head concerned shows to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that the decision was justified".