May-10-2016 in Healthcare Law, Regulatory & Administrative Law
The Freedom of Information Act, 2014 imposed a new obligation on FOI bodies to create and publish publication schemes, within six months of the commencement of Section 8 of the Act. Aisling Malone of Hayes Solicitors examines the newly introduced requirements.
What is the deadline?
Section 8 came into effect on 14 October 2015, therefore the six month deadline expired on 14 April 2016.
What is the new obligation?
The FOI body must prepare a publication scheme concerning how it will publish information and it must apply that scheme going forward.
What information should the publication scheme include?
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has published a Model Publication Scheme and Guidance pursuant to section 8 of the Act. These documents are available here.
The Minister has also published an FOI Code of Practice pursuant to section 48 of the Act.
Section 8(2) of the Act specifies what must be included in a publication scheme and Section 6 of the Code of Practice provides for additional items to be published by FOI bodies. The Model Publication Scheme and Guidance take account of all of these requirements and provide that the publication scheme should include:
- Information about the FOI body. Organisational information to include establishment, governance arrangements, corporate plans and strategies and Annual Reports. Also information concerning pay / grading structures, location and current contact details, customer charters / Codes of practice etc.
- Services provided or to be provided to the public. Details of the public services provided, how they can be accessed, associated costs, administration of such services, review/appeal rights etc.
- Decision making process for major policy proposals. Major policy proposals including any public consultation processes, expenditure reviews, policy assessments etc.
- Financial information. Financial statements, major capital expenditure plans, payments or purchase orders for goods and services etc.
- Procurement. Procurement policies, links to all current tender competitions, details of public contracts awarded etc.
- FOI disclosure log and other information to be routinely published .FOI disclosure log concerning non-personal FOI requests processed, reports, commercial publications and information held by the FOI body which is regularly sought etc.
Is there any additional guidance available?
The model documents also suggest that the publication scheme may include the following sub- headings, which correspond with the headings listed above. The sub-headings are intended to assist FOI bodies with including more detail in their scheme, thus complying with their obligations.
- Who we are and what we do
- The services we offer
- How we make decisions on policies
- What we spend
- How we spend
- Other information
The Act requires FOI bodies to consider the public interest in permitting access to information, publishing reasons for decisions and disseminating information about the functions performed and services offered by the FOI bodies generally. These public interest factors should inform the preparation of the publication scheme by an FOI body.
The model documents set out what should be included at a minimum and are not necessarily exhaustive. Regard should be had to the FOI legislation, particularly section 8 of the Act and legal advice should be sought if queries arise.
Where should the publication scheme be published?
The guidance issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform suggests that the scheme should feature prominently on the FOI body’s website and that there should be a link on the homepage. It is advisable for an FOI body to have a dedicated FOI tab on its website and for the scheme to feature prominently on that tab. A hard copy version must be available for inspection during normal office hours at head office, on 24 hours’ notice.
The publication scheme is online now, have we complied with our obligations?
FOI bodies are obliged to review their publication schemes every three years and this should be diarised. The Act obliges the FOI body to review or update any materials published under the scheme on at least a yearly basis.
What are the risks of non-compliance?
Under the Act, the Information Commissioner is empowered to review the extent to which FOI bodies comply with their obligations in this regard. The Commissioner may comment on compliance or non-compliance in his/her annual report.
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