X and Department of the Taoiseach (FOI Act 2014)

Secondly, while I am required to give reasons for my decision under section 22(10) of the FOI Act, I am also required to take reasonable precautions to prevent disclosure of information in an exempt record, under section 25. This means that the extent to which I can describe the records at issue is limited.

Thirdly, with certain limited exceptions (e.g. section 37(2), which I consider below), the FOI Act does not provide for the limiting of access to records to particular individuals only. When a record is released under the FOI Act, it effectively amounts to disclosure to "the world at large" (H.(E.) v Information Commissioner [2001] IEHC 58 ). The FOI Act places no restrictions on the type or extent of disclosure or the subsequent use to which the record may be put.

Record 13 consists of a letter from Deputy Martin to the former Taoiseach about an individual other than the applicant and an email from that individual. It contains highly sensitive information about the individual concerned, which relates to their age, medical, psychiatric and psychological history. It also contains the person's name, email address, mobile telephone number, home-town and information about the individual's parents. Therefore releasing this record would involve the disclosure of personal information relating to an individual other than the applicant.

I therefore find that Record 13 is exempt from release under section 37(1) of the FOI Act. This finding is subject to the provisions of sections 37(2) and 37(5), which I examine below.

Section 37(5) of the FOI Act provides that access to the personal information of a third party may be granted where the public interest that the request should be granted outweighs the right to privacy of the individual to whom the information relates, or the grant of the request would benefit the person to whom the information relates.