Ireland

[IE] Extension of Freedom of Information Act to Include RTÉ

IRIS 2000-5:1/26

Candelaria van Strien-Reney

Faculty of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1997, members of the public have the right to obtain access to official information to the greatest extent possible consistent with the public interest and the right to privacy. The Act first came into force for Government departments in 1998. It has been progressively extended to include various public bodies, most recently RTÉ (the national broadcaster), to which the Act applies from 1 May 2000.

Members of the public are now entitled to request access to documents and records held in RTÉ (in addition to the information that RTÉ has already made freely available to the public). These records relate to management, administration, finance, commercial, communications and the making of contracts. However, certain types of information are exempt under the terms of the 1997 Act. These include records containing commercially sensitive information or personal information. In addition, certain other records are exempt from the Act: these include the gathering and recording of information and materials for journalistic or programme content purposes; the identification of sources of information or material for the purposes of making programmes; the editing and storing of material recorded for the purposes of making programmes; and the process of making editorial decisions, internal review and analysis of programmes.

In general, the only RTÉ records that can be accessed are those that were created since 21 April 1998 (the date on which the Act came into force).