Cork Lord Mayor Chris O’Leary denied access to review files on local government review

The Lord Mayor of Cork has been denied access to documents linked to the controversial Cork local government review process.

Sinn Féin’s Chris O’Leary confirmed to council on Monday that his Freedom of Information (FoI) requests for the information have been rejected.

He told councillors that he lodged three separate FoI requests — one with the Environment Minister Alan Kelly; one with his department’s secretary general; and one with Alf Smiddy, the former chairman of the now disbanded Cork Local Government Committee (CLGC), seeking access to a raft of documents.

However, he said the requests have been turned down by the minister and his department’s secretary general. He said he received no reply from Mr Smiddy.

He was last night finalising the wording for a substantial appeal of the decisions.

The rejection of his FoI requests follows a similar rejection last month of an Irish Examiner FoI request for similar documents linked to the same process.

The Irish Examiner applied to the Department of the Environment for access to all communications between the CLGC, Mr Smiddy, and its members, with the Department of the Environment, and the minister, as well as copies of all agendas and minutes of all meetings of the CLGR group since its establishment last January.

The CLGC, which was set up to review local government structures in Cork, published its report in September, recommending the merger of the city and county councils into one super-council to govern the region.

The recommendation, which split the five-person committee three to two in favour of a merger, has sparked controversy.

The department section dealing with the Irish Examiner’s FoI request said it was refusing access to the records sought because the CLGC report is the subject of a “continuing deliberative process”, because it is undergoing examination by the minister and that the documents are subject to consideration by Government.

“This examination is a continuation of, and follow-up to, the work undertaken by the CLGC, and there is a need to allow this deliberative process to proceed without intrusion,” it said.

“It would not be in the public interest to release records in relation to this ongoing activity of deliberation on a range of significant matters which will inform decision making by the minister and government on the approach to be followed in this area.”

The department also said that disclosure of the records could prejudice the effectiveness of the ongoing examination and analysis of the matters dealt with by the CLGR.

It is understood that similar reasons were cited in the decision to refuse the release of the same documents to Mr O’Leary.

Separately, Cork City Council is seeking a judicial review of the administrative actions of the CLGR group, and it is also poised to become the first local authority to challenge the constitutionality of government policy in relation to combining local authority areas.

It is expected that the council’s legal team will seek discovery of the same documents and records as part of this process.