XYZ Limited and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (FOI Act 2014)

The Council issued an internal review decision on 15 February 2016 affirming its original decision on the same grounds. On 15 February 2016, the applicant sought a review by this Office of the Council's decision. In conducting this review I have had regard to the communications between the Council and the applicant on the matter, and to the correspondence between this Office and both the Council and the applicant.

This review is concerned solely with the question of whether the Council was justified in its decision to refuse the applicant's FOI request under sections 29(1), 30(1)(c), and 31(1) of the FOI Act.

It is important to note at the outset that section 22(12)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a decision to refuse to grant a request under section 12 shall be presumed not to have been justified unless the head of the relevant FOI body shows to the Commissioner's satisfaction that its decision was justified. This means that the onus is on the Council of satisfying this Office that its decision to refuse to release the records sought was justified.

Furthermore, where a body decides to refuse a request, it must notify the requester of the reasons for the refusal, the provisions of the Act under which the request has been refused and the findings on any material issues relevant to the decision and particulars of any matter relating to the public interest taken into consideration for the purposes of the decision (section 13(2) refers). Given that the Council has been subject to the provisions of FOI legislation since 1998, I assume it is fully aware of its obligations under the FOI Act.

During the course of this review, Ms Sandra Murdiff of this Office contacted the Council and outlined her view that the Council's original and internal review decisions had not complied with the provisions of the FOI Act. She noted that the Council had not identified any relevant records, nor had it explained how the exemptions claimed applied to the records at issue, nor had it demonstrated that it had considered the public interest in favour of release in relation to sections 29(1) and 30(1)(c) of the Act. She invited the Council to make a submission in relation to her view.