I, Charlie McCreevy, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997 (No. 13 of 1997), hereby make the following regulations with respect to which, pursuant to section 3(3) of that Act, a draft has been laid before each House of the Oireachtas and a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Freedom of Information Act, 1997 (Section 6(9)) Regulations, 1998.

2. In these Regulations a reference to a section is a reference to that section of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997 (No.13 of 1997).

3. A person for the purposes of section 6(9) shall be construed as a person other than a public body, or any other body, organisation or group referred to in paragraphs (a) to (g) of paragraph 1(5) of the First Schedule to the Freedom of Information Act, 1997 (No.13 of 1997).

Pn. 6613

Price 60p

Postage 36p

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

Section 6(9) provides that the records of contractors to public bodies are deemed, insofar as they relate to the contracted service, to be held by the public body concerned. These regulations provide that section 6(9) would not apply in the case of a contractor who is also a public body, or other organisation within the scope of the Act by virtue of the First Schedule.