How to make an FOI Request?
Requests for access to records are required to be submitted in writing to the Freedom of Information Officer, Offaly County Council, Áras an Chontae, Charleville Road, Tullamore, County Offaly, R35 F893 or electronically to foi@offalycoco.ie. In order to be considered valid a request must:
- State that the request is being made under the Freedom of Information Act 2014;
- Contain sufficient particulars in relation to the information concerned to enable the record to be identified by the taking of reasonable steps.
Persons requiring access to a record in a particular form or manner must specify the form or manner of access required.
Fees for Making an FOI Request
There is no initial fee for making a request for access to records. However Offaly Country Council may charge fees for searching, retrieving and copying as per table below
| €20.00 | Per hour for searching for and retrieving records |
| €0.04 | Per sheet for photocopying records |
| €10.00 | For the provision of records on a CD-ROM |
| €101 Minimum threshold | For search, retrieval and copying fees may be charged. In other words no fee applies for FOI requests where search, retrieval and copying fees amount to €100 or less |
| €101 or more | Full fees apply for search, retrieval and copying |
| €500 max | Fee for search, retrieval and copying |
| €700 overall ceiling limit | Upper limit on search, retrieval and copying fees above which Offaly County Council may refuse to process a request unless the requester is prepared to refine the request to bring search, retrieval and copying fees below this limit. |
Timeframe for Dealing with an FOI Request
Under the FOI Act 2014 a request for access to records must be acknowledged within 2 weeks. In general, Offaly County Council is required to decide whether to grant, part-grant or refuse access to records not later than 4 weeks after receiving a request. However the period for a decision on a request may be extended in limited circumstances.
Grounds for Refusing an FOI Request
The FOI Act 2014 contains provisions that exempt a number of categories of records from being released. Records to which access may or shall be refused under these provisions include records relating to the following:
| Meetings of the Government |
| Deliberations of Public Bodies |
| Functions and Negotiations of Public Bodies |
| Parliamentary, Court and Certain Other Matters |
| Law Enforcement and Public Safety |
| Security, Defence and International Relations |
| Information Obtained in Confidence |
| Commercially Sensitive Information |
| Personal Information |
| Research and Natural Resources |
| Financial and Economic Interests of the State |
Offaly County Council may also refuse to grant access to records on administrative grounds. These grounds include instances where:
| The record concerned does not exist or cannot be found after all reasonable steps to ascertain its whereabouts have been taken |
| The request fails to contain sufficient particulars in relation to the information concerned to enable the record to be identified by the taking of reasonable steps |
| Publication of the record is required by law and is intended to be effected not later than 12 weeks after the receipt of the request |
| Offaly County Council intends to publish the requested record not later than 6 weeks after the receipt of the request |
| Requests are considered to be frivolous, vexatious or constitute a pattern of manifestly unreasonable requests |
| Fees or deposits payable under the FOI Act 2014 have not been paid |
| A record a copy of which is available for purchase or removal free of charge by members of the public |
| The retrieval and examination of records would, due to the number of records involved, cause a substantial and unreasonable interference with or disruption to the work of Offaly County Council |
| The information is already in the public domain |
Appealing a Decision on an FOI Request
A person who is dissatisfied with a decision on an FOI request may apply for an internal review of the decision in writing to the Freedom of Information Officer, Offaly County Council, Áras an Chontae, Charleville Road, Tullamore, County Offaly, R35 F893 or electronically to foi@offalycoco.ie. An application for an internal review is required to be submitted to the County Council not later than 4 weeks after the notification of the original decision although this period may be extended in appropriate circumstances. A fee of €30 must accompany an application for an internal review. This fee is reduced to €10 for medical card holders and their dependents. No fee applies if the records concerned contain personal information only related to the applicant. An internal review involves a complete reconsideration of the matter by a more senior Offaly County Council staff member unconnected to the original decision who may affirm, vary or annul the original decision. A decision on the internal review is required to be issued not later than 3 weeks from the date of receipt of the application for the review.
A person who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review may appeal to the Information Commissioner for a review of the decision. Appeal applications are required to be submitted in writing to the Information Commissioner, 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2 or electronically to info@oic.gov.ie not later than 6 months after the notification of the internal review decision although this period may be extended in appropriate circumstances. A fee of €50 must accompany an appeal application to the Information Commissioner. This fee is reduced to €15 for medical card holders and their dependents. No fee applies if the records concerned contain personal information only related to the applicant. The Information Commissioner may affirm, vary or annul the internal review decision made by Offaly County Council. A decision shall be made by the Information Commissioner, insofar as is practical, not later than 4 months from the date of receipt of the appeal.
Publication Scheme under Freedom of Information Act 2014
INTRODUCTION
Offaly County Council has, under Section 8 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014, prepared and published this Publication Scheme in conformity with the model scheme and guidelines made by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
This Publication Scheme came into effect on 14th April 2016.
PURPOSE OF THE PUBLICATION SCHEME
The scheme is designed to facilitate the publication or provision of records outside of FOI provided that such publication or provision is not prohibited by law. Its aim is to publish as much information as possible in an open, transparent and accessible manner on a routine basis. In preparing, reviewing or revising this Publication Scheme, Offaly County Council shall have regard to:
- Allowing public access to information held by Offaly County Council
- The publication of reasons for decisions made by Offaly County Council, and
- Publishing information of relevance or interest to the general public in relation to its activities and functions generally.
FORMAT AND ACCESS
In order to ensure that this Publication Scheme is easily accessible to the public it is being displayed on Offaly County Council’s website. In addition a printed version of the scheme is available to view at 24 hour’s notice during opening hours at Offaly County Council, Aras an Chontae, Charleville Road, Tullamore, R35 F893.
This information is being provided primarily by way of a link to information held elsewhere on Offaly County Council’s Website and is grouped into 6 headings:
1 – Information about Offaly County Council
Offaly County Council
Offaly County Council was established under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Its role and responsibilities include:
- Providing a democratic forum for local governance;
- Delivering an extensive range of public services that are necessary for economic, social, community and cultural development within the county;
- Acting as a regulatory and enforcement authority.
This table provides information on who we are and what we do
| Governance/management arrangements | Local Representatives Corporate Policy Group Strategic Policy Committees Management Team |
| Corporate Plans and Strategies | Corporate Plan 2019-2024 Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Local Area Plans Local Economic and Community Plan |
| Annual Reports | Annual Reports |
| Organisation Structure | |
| Pay / Grade Structures | Pay/grading structures |
| Location and Contact Details | Locations and contact details |
| Details of Service Level Agreements/Memoranda of Understanding | |
| Customer Charters | Customer Charter Customer Care Code of Practice for Complaints and Appeals |
| Codes of Practice or Guidelines | Code of Conduct for Elected Representatives Code of Conduct for Employees General description of classes of records held by Offaly County Council |
2 – Functions and Services Provided
Information on the functions carried out by Offaly County Council and the services it provides are available at A to Z Council Services
Each of these headings provides details of:
- Public services provided by Offaly County Council (or by another party on its behalf)
- How services are provided and administered
- How services may be accessed or applied for
- Fees or charges if any for access to services
- Review or appeal rights relating to services
- Details of research projects undertaken in respect of functions/services, where available, are also provided.
3 – Decision Making Process for Major Policy Proposals
This table provides information on how we make decisions on policies
| Major policy proposals, including any public consultation exercises | Provides details relating to current proposals |
| Background information relating to major policy proposals and decisions, includes documents associated with current policy proposals that are normally released as part of a public consultation exercise | Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 Local Area Plans Local Economic and Community Plan |
| Reports on operation of public services by Offaly County Council, Includes details of final Local Government Auditor Reports and efficiency and operational review reports that would normally be published and made available to the public | Finance Reports Performance Indicators |
| Expenditure Reviews | Includes efficiency reviews that incorporate value for money conclusions which would normally be published and made available to the public |
| Policy Assessments | Includes policy impact analysis reports prepared or commissioned by Offaly County Council that would normally be published and made available to the public |
4 – Financial Information
This table provides information on our income and expenditure
| Financial Statements | Annual Budgets Annual Financial Statements Prompt Payment Quarterly Reports |
| Plans for Major Capital Expenditure | Where the expenditure involved has been officially endorsed by the County Council |
| Payments or purchase orders exceeding €20,000 for goods and services | |
| Provides details of representational allowances and expenses paid to elected representatives and payments (if any) made to non-executive board members on bodies/agencies under the remit of Offaly County Council | Governance board member remuneration |
| Funding/sponsorship of non-public bodies | Provides details of grants or sponsorship that exceed a threshold of €10,000 per annum. Includes details of the name of the non-public body recipient and the amount involved |
5 – Procurement Information
Provides the following information on how we procure goods and services:
6 – FOI Disclosure Log and Routinely Published Information
Provides the following information on FOI requests processed and other miscellaneous information that is routinely published:
- Freedom of Information Disclosure Logs – Provides details of decisions made in relation to previous FOI requests for access to non-personal records
- Offaly Information Portal – Provides access to a number of information rich resources, interactive maps and data sets about all aspects of the Count
- Reports (various miscellaneous reports)
- Commercial publications and relative charges
The following information held by Offaly County Council that is sought regularly: