1.1 Part III of the Act sets out a series of related measures to protect information relating to key areas of Government activity, parliamentary and court matters as well as third party information of a personal, commercial or confidential nature. Such exemptions feature one or more of the following aspects:

injury test: many exemptions require that an injury or harm test be satisfied before material can be withheld. This test requires consideration to be given to whether disclosure would have an adverse or harmful effect on a specific interest (e.g. section 31 requires consideration of whether disclosure could reasonably be expected to have a serious adverse affect on the financial interests of the State). As the harm test may vary from Section to Section, Decision Makers should pay particular attention to the precise wording of the exemption in determining whether the records in question satisfy the exemption in full. Where the injury test fails, the records in question must be released unless another appropriate exemption applies.

public interest test: many exemptions contain an overriding public interest test. This requires consideration to be given to whether the public interest in disclosure of a particular record is better served and outweighs the potential harm or injury arising from such disclosure. In considering public interest factors, Decision Makers should list the public interest arguments for and against the release of the records in question, apply a weighting to each, hone in on the most important and make a judgement as to where the balance of the public interest lies. Where the arguments favour release, then the records should be released subject to Section 29 considerations. Where the arguments favour protection of the records, then the records should not be released.

class test: a record may be exempt because it falls into a particular class. Relevant exemptions include section 19 (Government Records), a record covered by legal professional privilege, a record which a Secretary General has certified under section 20(1A) as relating to a deliberative process of a Government Department and records related to security and international relations to which section 24(2) applies.

mandatory & discretionary exemptions: some exemptions, such as section 19 (government records), section 20(1A) (records certified by a Secretary General as relating to a deliberative process in a Department) and section 24(2) (certain records related to international relations and security) require a request for a record meeting the relevant conditions to be refused. Other exemptions allow for a certain amount of discretion to be exercised in providing that a request may be refused where the terms of the exemption are met.

protection of third party interests: the Act protects information given to public bodies which is of a personal, commercially sensitive or confidential nature. Such information may be disclosed in the public interest but only following the consultation procedures contained in section 29.

certificates:
Ministerial:- a matter in the area of Law Enforcement, Security and International Relations which is exempt and also of sufficient sensitivity or seriousness may be the subject of a Ministerial Certificate. Such a decision may not be reviewed by the Information Commissioner but is instead subject to review by the Taoiseach and other members of the Government, or on a point of law by the courts. (Sections 25 and 42).

By a Secretary General:- a Secretary General of a Department may certify a record as relating to a deliberative process in a Department of State and to revoke such a certificate when h/she is satisfied that the deliberative process has concluded by issuing another certificate to that effect. A certificate establishes conclusively that the record is exempt i.e. a request for the record must be refused and an application under section 14 or 34 for a review of that decision cannot lie (Section 20(1A)).

1.2 Each of the exemptions is dealt with in detail in the rest of this manual together with guidance in relation to the correct application of injury and public interest tests, where appropriate.