Issues with Central Bank and Freedom of Information laws
Peter Tyndall said his office “had great difficulty in dealing with the bank in the extent of our jurisdiction.”
The function of the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) is to review an FOI decision by a government department or public body, as requested by a member of the public who is left unsatisfied by the result of their FOI request.
However, an issue has arisen between the Central Bank and the OIC. Some sensitive information held by certain public bodies is exempt from the 2014 FOI Act under a segment known as ‘Schedule 1’. Therefore, the OIC has found itself precluded from reviewing some FOI decisions.
Mr Tyndall said yesterday at the launch of his office’s annual report: “Like some of the new bodies that became subject to FOI, it (the Central Bank) is partially included and certain aspects of its work are excluded, so that’s particularly records containing confidential commercial information.
“The bank has taken the view that if any record contains any such information (confidential and commercial) then the record itself becomes exempt and is not subject to review by my office. This is clearly an entirely unsatisfactory position.”
When asked if he thought the Central Bank was breaching the FOI legislation with this alleged approach, Mr Tyndall said: “In our view, the refusal to allow us to review [their] decisions, not to release [their FOl] decisions, is a breach of the legislation.”
The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform attempted to resolve this matter of legislative interpretation between the Central Bank and the OIC. “They issued a guidance note which confirmed our view of the legislation, that those decisions by the Central Bank were subject to review,” Mr Tyndall said.
One of the OIC’s senior investigators, Stephen Rafferty, said there can be two possible results from this. “It (the Central Bank) will either accept that decision or it has the option of appealing to the High Court,” he said.
A spokesman for the Central Bank said the body was fully committed to meeting all of their obligations under the FOI Act 2014. “The legal advice provided to the bank is that records containing Schedule 1 information are outside of the Act, and therefore not subject to the provisions of the Act,” said the spokesman.
Under Schedule 1 in the Act, exempt information includes things such as confidential, personal financial affairs of an individual. The spokesman argued that the bank has submitted to the OIC’s review process.
“The Bank agreed to submit to the OIC’s review process in respect of requests that relate to records falling fully or partly within the scope of Schedule 1.
“The Central Bank has further demonstrated its willingness to submit to the OIC’s review process by supplying records requested by the OIC which include Schedule 1 information,” the spokesman said.
Mr Tyndall yesterday said: “I take the view that although the Central Bank has allowed me, as they see it, to conduct review on their terms, that this is not compliant with the legislation.”
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