Introduction

Freedom of Information (FOI) enables people to seek access to their own personal information held by public bodies and to other records containing non-personal information. The Freedom of Information Act 2014 (the FOI Act) provides the following statutory rights:

• the right to access records held by public bodies covered by the FOI Act;
• the right to have personal information in a record amended, where such information is incomplete, incorrect or misleading;
• the right to obtain reasons for decisions taken by public bodies affecting the person.

How to make an FOI Request:

You may submit a request via email to foi@ahbregulator.ie or via post to:

FOI Officer,
AHBRA,
4th Floor Grattan House,
67-72 Mount Street Lower,
Dublin 2,
D02 H638

When making your request, you should:

• State that you are making your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.
• Give as much detail as possible to enable the information to be identified easily and, if possible, indicate the time frame which applies to your request (e.g. between May 2021-December 2021).
• Be clear enough so that the FOI Unit understand what records are being requested.
• Supply, where you are seeking personal information, appropriate photographic identification with your request e.g. copy of driving license and utility bill.
• Include contact details to allow the FOI Unit to contact you and comply with your request.

How is an FOI request processed by the AHBRA?

The FOI Unit will issue an acknowledgement letter to you within 10 working days (excluding Public Holidays) of your request being received. The next stages of the process will be clearly explained in the acknowledgement letter.

A decision regarding your request will normally be issued by the FOI Unit within 20 working days of the receipt of your request. In some cases, an extension of time may be necessary to complete the decision. If this occurs while processing your request, the FOI Unit will contact you and explain this requirement.

If you are not satisfied with the decision made, you can seek an internal review of the decision which is a complete and new review of your request by someone more senior. If following this, you are still not satisfied you can appeal this decision to the Office of the Information Commissioner.

FOI Publication Scheme

Section 8 of the FOI Act requires the AHBRA to prepare and publish a scheme concerning the publication of information about our organisation in an open and accessible manner on a routine basis. This allows for the publication or giving of records outside of FOI provided that such publication or giving of access is not prohibited by law. The scheme commits FOI bodies to make information available as part of their normal business activities in accordance with this scheme.

Our scheme has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and is published here

Further information

For further information on FOI, please find some useful links below:

• Freedom of Information Act: irishstatutebook.ie
• Office of the Information Commissioner: oic.gov.ie
• Freedom of Information Central Policy Unit: foi.gov.ie