Freedom of Information

Introduction to Freedom of Information (FOI)

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 governs access to information held by public bodies, including the Legal Aid Board.

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

to have personal information held on them altered, added, or deleted where such information is incomplete, incorrect, or misleading; and
to be given reasons for decisions taken by public bodies that affect them; and
to access official records held by public bodies covered by the Act.

These rights can be exercised by a parent or guardian in respect of a minor or a person with a disability and by the next of kin or personal representative of a deceased person (subject to guidelines published from time to time by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

These rights mean that a person can seek access to personal information held by the Board, no matter when the information was created, and to other records created by the Board after 21 April 1998. The Board became subject to FOI on 1 June 2002.

How to Make a Request

A request to the Board under the FOI Act 2014 must be sent to the Board’s Freedom of Information Section.

A person making a FOI request must:

submit the request in writing;
specify that the request is being made under the FOI Act;
be clear about what records are being requested (type, dates, etc.); and
clarify if they require the records in a particular manner.

Under the FOI Act, the Legal Aid Board can assist a requester word their request.

Please Note:

The FOI Section will acknowledge all requests and provide further information on the request process.
A decision on a request is normally made no later than 20 working days from its receipt.
The Legal Aid Board publishes the decisions made on non-personal FOI requests through its Disclosure Log. If you are considering submitting a request for information, it may be useful to review both the Publication Scheme and the Disclosure Log, as the information you require may already be available there.

Contact Details:

Freedom of Information Section

Legal Aid Board

Email: foi@legalaidboard.ie

Routinely Available Information

The Board routinely makes available to the public information on its functions and activities. Such information is available via its website www.legalaidboard.ie without the need to rely on the FOI Act.

The FOI Act is designed to facilitate public access to information held by public bodies that is not routinely available through other sources. Such access is subject to certain limitations, exemptions, timelines and requirements.

Reviews

The FOI Act provides for internal reviews of decisions made by the Legal Aid Board on FOI requests. If still not satisfied with that Legal Aid Board decision, the Act also provides for a further review by the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Office of the Information Commissioner

6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 D02 W773

Email: info@oic.ie

Telephone: 01-6395689

FOI Request Fees

A fee may apply in respect of any FOI request to the Legal Aid Board in line with the Freedom of Information Act (Fees) Regulations 2014. Please see further information below.

Type of Request/Application	Personal records	Non-Personal records	Reduced Fee**
Initial record request	Free*	Free	Free
Internal review request	Free	€30	€10

*Subject to the number of records involved. See table below. A fee is then also subject to the requester’s means.

**Reduced fee applies to medical card holders or their dependants.

Search and Retrieval Fees

Estimated cost of search	Fee	Search and Retrieval	Photocopy fee B/W	Photocopy fee Colour
Less than or equal to €100	No fee		€0.04 per sheet	€0.15 per sheet
€101- 499*	Full fees apply	€20 p/hr	€0.04 per sheet	€0.15 per sheet
€500	Maximum fee	€20 p/hr	€0.04 per sheet	€0.15 per sheet
€700	Upper maximum fee**	€20 p/hr	€0.04 per sheet	€0.15 per sheet

*Where the Legal Aid Board determines that the threshold of €101 will be reached in any request, the requester must pay a deposit of 20% before the search is commenced.

**The Legal Aid Board can refuse to process a FOI request above this amount. In that case it will propose revised search terms to the requester. Where a requester wishes to pursue a request above the upper maximum fee, full search, retrieval and copy fees will apply without limit. These will need to be paid by the requester.

If a fee applies, this can be paid by cheque, bank draft, or postal order. Details will be set out in correspondence from the Board FOI Unit.

ACCESS to INFORMATION on the ENVIRONMENT

The European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 – 2014 enable a person to request environmental information held by the Legal Aid Board.

AIE information is information produced or received by a public body about the environment, its state, intended measures, or reports. Such information should be made available by public bodies and must be made available when requested, subject to some exceptions.

How to make an AIE request of the Legal Aid Board

A request to the Board for AIE must be sent to the Board’s Freedom of Information Section.

A person making an AIE request must:

submit the request in writing;
specify that the request is being made under the AIE Regulations;
provide their name and address;
be clear about what records are being requested (type, dates, etc.); and
clarify if they require the records in a particular manner.

Under the Regulations, the Legal Aid Board can assist a requester word their request.

AIE Search and Retrieval Fees

Search and Retrieval

Photocopying fee

Photocopy fee Colour

USB Key

Standard fee*

€20 p/hr

€0.04 per sheet

€0.15 per sheet

€10.00

*Reduced fee of €6 p/hr. applies to medical card holders or their dependants.

All fees must be paid before the information is released.

No fees will be charged where a request:

Contains only personal data;
Are not decided within two months; and
Where the Legal Aid Board does not possess the information sought.

Please Note:

The FOI Section will acknowledge all AIE requests and provide further information on the request process.
A decision on a request is normally made no later than one month from its receipt.
The Legal Aid Board publishes the decisions made on non-personal AIE requests through its Disclosure Log. If you are considering submitting a request for information, it may be useful to review the Disclosure Log, as the information you require may already be available there.