1. Attendance: In attendance were Ms Maeve McDonagh, UCC, Mr Tony McQuinn, National Social Services Board (Deputising for Ms Leonie Lunney), Mr Ronan Brady, NUJ, Mr Gerry Kearney (Department of Finance, FOI Central Policy Unit), and Mr Sean Garvey (also CPU).


2. Minutes: The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.


3. Event to mark anniversary of commencement of the FOI Act:
Ms McDonagh outlined the timetable for the event arranged for Friday 23 April. Mr Brady emphasised the need to maximise public awareness of the Act, and thought the anniversary event was a good mechanism for initiating this. Mr Kearney outlined the impending publication of FOI contacts in the telephone directory which would be delivered to every household in the country. He said thought needed to be given to the most effective form of advertising of FOI and whether it should be targeted rather than general as was the case last Autumn. Mr McQuinn agreed that any advertising campaign should be tied to some particular event, and that isolated bouts of advertising had limited success.

Mr Brady suggested that arrangements could be made to have FOI discussed in the media, such as Morning Ireland or Questions and Answers, but that FOI needed an issue to generate enough interest for a slot on such programmes. Mr Kearney suggested that pending decisions from the Information Commissioner's Office might generate this type of interest.

Mr Brady undertook to distribute anniversary conference programmes via the NUJ and contacts from the Let in the Light FOI seminars. Mr McQuinn undertook to arrange for inclusion of reference to the conference in NSSB publications.


4. Regulations:
Mr Garvey outlined the regulations laid before the Oireachtas since the last meeting, in particular those providing for requesters who would get access to records of deceased persons and persons whose records would be made available to parents and guardians, namely minors and incapacitated adults. He also described the guidelines which will be finalised imminently which will be used in conjunction with the regulations, and undertook to send copies to Ms McDonagh. Mr Kearney summarised the process through which the regulations and guidelines were produced, i.e. a subcommittee of the interdepartmental working group, and that the guidelines would be reviewed periodically, beginning in May. He also stated that the department would be interested in any comments the group had to make on the guidelines.

Ms McDonagh inquired about the reference to a report under section 32 of the FOI Act mentioned in the minutes of the interdepartmental working group which had been circulated to group members. Mr Kearney outlined that discussions had taken place at the interdepartmental working group. The Committee on Finance and the Public Service has been assigned to oversee the functions set out in Section 32 (that public bodies present submissions to the committee on secrecy provisions in legislation in their respective areas of activity).


5. Information Commissioner findings:
Mr Garvey summarised some of the more recent Commissioner findings. Mr Brady raised the delay on the Commissioner's office in reaching decisions, in particular with regard to Sunday Times requests to the Departments of Education and Science and An Toaiseach.


6. AOB:
Mr Brady raised the position on fees. Mr Garvey summarised the position on fees set out in the Act and stated that public bodies were becoming increasingly confident in processing requests to the point where they now felt comfortable charging fees whereas heretofore their sole concern had been adherence to time limits on responses. He expressed doubt that public bodies would routinely inflate fee requests. Mr Kearney undertook to provide Mr Brady with a copy of the CPU notice on fees. Mr Brady was also advised that the amount of fees and deposits can be appealed to the Information Commissioner.

Ms McDonagh enquired about the position on EU documentation. Mr Kearney replied that a CPU notice was under consideration in consultation with D.Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General's Office. Ms McDonagh made the point that the European Commission Green Paper on access to information seemed to move towards the concept of payment for official information which was moving away from the spirit of FOI.

Mr Kearney thanked group members for their attendance and participation and indicated that they will be advised of the date for the next meeting.