Freedom of Information
What is the Freedom of Information Act?
The Freedom of Information Acts 1997, 2003 and 2014, give you the right to access records held by the Marine Institute and other state organisations. You do not have to give a reason why you want to see these records. A decision on your request must normally be made within four weeks.
What can I ask for?
- All records created after the Act originally commenced on 21 April 1998;
- All records created earlier if needed to understand records created after 21 April 1998;
- All records relating to personal information, irrespective of when they were created;
- All records of staff created after 21 April 1995, or earlier if used adversely against a staff member.
The Marine Institute's Publication Scheme:
The Marine Institute has prepared and published a Publication Scheme concerning the information of the Institute confirming with the Model and Guidelines published by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform under Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2014.
The Scheme came into effect on the 14th April, 2016.
FOI disclosure log 2016 - 2018
FOI disclosure log 2019 - 2023
Freedom of Information Policy July 2021
How to I make an FOI request?
Requests for information must be made in writing to:
- The request must indicate that the information is being sought under the FOI Acts.
- If information is desired in a particular format (such as photocopy, CD or electronic format), this should be specified in the application.
- Requests should be as specific as possible to enable the information sought to be identified.
Alternatively you can use the online application form.
The Marine Institute will acknowledge the request within two weeks, and generally make a decision on the request within four weeks, or eight weeks in certain cases. If the Institute does not respond within four weeks the decision is deemed to have been refused and the requester can proceed to the review stage.
How do I contact the FOI Officer?
The FOI Officer can be contacted as follows:
What if I am not satified with the decision on my FOI request?
You may ask the Marine Institute for an internal review by a more senior officer. They will inform you of the result of the review within three weeks. A request for an internal review should be sent to the FOI Officer (contact details above).
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you may ask the Information Commissioner to review the matter.
Is there a charge for getting information under the FOI Act?
As you will be aware the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has considerably changed the fees structure in the Bill. In summary, the changes are as follows:
Type of Rquest/Application |
Standard Fee |
Reduced Fee (Medical Card Holders and Dependents) |
Request for a recordInitial Request Internal Review Review by Information Commissioner |
€ 0 € 30 € 50 |
€ 0 € 10 € 15 |
| Request for record containing personal information |
€ 0 |
€ 0 |
| Application for amendment of a record containing incorrect, incomplete or misleading personal information | € 0 | € 0 |
| Application for the reasons for a decision affecting the individual | € 0 | € 0 |
Search & Retrieval and Copying FeesSearch & Retrieval Copying CD-Rom
Minimum threshold Maximum Fees
If the estimated search and retrieval costs exceed €700 the Marine Institute may refuse to process the request unless the scope of the request can be refined to bring the costs within the € 500 limit. |
€20.95 per hour €0.04 per sheet €10.16
€100 €500
|
|
Deposits |
A deposit of 50% is payable where the estimated cost of retrieval of records exceeds €100 |