Saoráil Faisnéise / Freedom of Information Policy

The FOI Act provides that every person has the following new legal rights:

• the right to access official records held by Government Departments or other public bodies listed in the Act;
• the right to have personal information held on them corrected or updated where such information is incomplete, incorrect or misleading; and
• the right to be given reasons for decisions taken by public bodies that affect them.

Therefore, people can seek access to personal information held on them - no matter when the information was created - and to other records created after 21 April, 1998.

For further information visit the official Freedom of Information website at foi.gov.ie

What information is available?
Any official information held by public bodies can be sought under the Act. However, the Act provides that in some circumstances certain types of information are exempt from release. Examples include records relating to:

• Government meetings,
• law enforcement and security,
• confidential and commercially sensitive information
• Personal information (other than information relating to the person making the request.

How to make a FOI request?

When you make a request you must: Submit the request in writing to the FOI Body that holds the records you are looking for.

• indicate that the request is being made under the FOI Act
• be sufficient to enable the public body with which the request is made to understand what records are being requested. In cases where it is not clear to the public body what records are being requested, it must assist the requester in making his/her request in such a way that the records requested can be identified.
• When seeking personal information, you will need to provide appropriate identification as required by a decision maker.
• In cases where you are seeking access to records under section 37(8), you will need to provide additional details in order to exercise these rights.

Requests should be submitted in writing along with an application fee, if applicable, (see below) to:
FOI Officer
Kildare Education Centre
Friary Road
Kildare Town
Co Kildare
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

What fees apply to making a request?
There is no application fee if your request is for personal information only (unless there is a significant number of records involved).

• The €15 application fee has been abolished;
• There is a lower limit of €101 where no search, retrieval or copying fee can be charged if you are below it. From €101, the total is charged;
• The amount that can be charged for search, retrieval and copying fees is capped at €500;
• A further cap of €700 applies to estimated search, retrieval and copying fees so that if this is breached the FOI body can refuse to process a request if the applicant is not prepared to preserve the request so that the search, retrieval and copying fees are below that limit;
• €30 (€10 for a person with a medical card and their dependants) is the new fee for an internal review under Section 21
• €50 (€15 in the case of a person with a medical card and their dependants) the new fee for an appeal to the Information Commissioner under Section 22

If your request is for a record containing non-personal information charges of €20 per hour are applied for search and retrieval of records. A charge of 4c per sheet applies to photocopying and €10 for a CD-ROM containing a copy of the documents.

Entitlements under the Freedom of Information Act.

Receipt of your request must be acknowledged within 10 working days;

A response will, in normal circumstances, be issued within 20 working days of receipt of a valid request;

All decisions must be clearly explained, setting out the sections of the Act used in reaching these decisions:

Details of your entitlements to Internal Review and appeal will be included in the decision letter.

How do I appeal a decision made?
If you are not satisfied with the response you have received or if you feel that a proposed charge for search/retrieval or copying of records is excessive you can appeal for an internal review of the decision. Someone more senior than the original decision-maker will undertake the internal review. The reviewer can change or agree with the original decision. There is a fee of €30 (€10 for medical card holders and their dependants) for applications for internal reviews of FOI requests.

If you are unhappy with the decision of the internal reviewer, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
Office of the Information Commissioner
18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2
Phone: (01) 6395689 or 1890 223030
Fax (01) 6395674 e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There is an application fee of €50 (€15 for medical card holders and their dependants) for application for review to the Information Commissioner. There is no charge for an application for review to the Information Commissioner of a decision relating to the requester's personal information or a decision to charge fees.

Signed:                                             Signed: 

Date                21/01/2025                                         Date: 21/01/2025