1. The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 1997 will commence on 21 April 1998 for all Government Departments and Offices. The Act confers a statutory right on all members of the public to seek access to information held by such public bodies, including information relating to oneself. As a result, a member of staff in a public body will be entitled to seek access to personnel records relating to him/herself.

2. Against the background of this new right of access to personal information current personnel practices across departments must develop towards a more open system.

3. Accordingly, this Department recommends that all personnel records created from 1 January 1998, including assessments of performance, staff appraisals and promotions evaluations should be prepared on the basis of open access by staff. Following from this, staff should be routinely able to such access material on request.

4.Refusal of personnel records created from 1 January 1998 to the individual concerned should arise only in exceptional and specific circumstances. Refusals should only arise where the adverse consequences of disclosure are both serious and clearly identifiable.

5. Policy in relation to personnel records created prior to January 1998 will be addressed in the context of the FOI policy manual currently being prepared by the Central Policy Unit.


12 December, 1997