M Solicitors and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (FOI Act 2014)

On 2 December 2014, the applicant, a firm of solicitors, submitted a request to the Department for all records held "in relation to:

- all proposals received from Premier Lotteries Ireland Limited submitting a bid for the award of the National Lottery licence; - the National Lottery licence issued under the National Lottery Act 2013; and - the specific amendments made to the draft licence to operate the National Lottery..."

The Department did not communicate its decision to the applicant within the four week time period stipulated by the FOI Act. On 2 February 2015 the applicant wrote to the Department to note that its request was deemed to have been refused and to request an internal review of this deemed refusal. By letter dated 18 February 2015, the Department refused the request under sections 35(1) and section 36(1)(b) of the FOI Act. On 19 March 2015, the applicant sought a review by my Office of the Department's decision.

I have decided to conclude this review by way of a formal binding decision. In conducting this review, I have had regard to the contents of the relevant records, to the correspondence between the applicant and the Department, and to the submissions of the parties.

The Department identified the final licence to operate the National Lottery (the final licence), the draft licence to operate the National Lottery (the draft licence), and PLI's response to the National Lottery Competition 2013 Request for Applications (the full RFA response), as coming within the scope of the request. During the course of the review, it became apparent that the Department held a redacted version of PLI's RFA response, which had been submitted to it by PLI.