Information commissioner rules against Central Bank

The information commissioner has found against the Central Bank over its interpretation of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.

The bank can either appeal in the High Court or accept the findings. “The commissioner considered that the bank’s position is entirely at odds with the spirit and intent of the legislation and that it would essentially allow the bank to throw a blanket over all of its records without external, independent oversight by his office,” said a spokesperson for the Office of the Information Commissioner.

The matter relates to an FoI request made to the Central Bank, for access to minutes of meetings. “Apart from the minutes of one meeting to which access was refused, the bank informed the applicant that the Act did not apply to the remaining minutes as they contained information that was excluded from the FoI Act.