Fees

Internal review fees
Review by Information Commissioner fees

The Minister for Finance has made rules fixing fees under section 47(6A) of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997. Freedom on Information Act, 1997 (Fees) Regulations, 2003 - S.I. No. 264 of 2003.

The fees apply to
  » requests under section 7 of the FOI Act (requests for access to records),
  » applications under section 14 (internal review) and
  » applications under section 34 (review by Information Commissioner)
which are received on or after 7 July 2003.

Requests for records

You must send a fee of €15 with your application for a record or records containing non-personal information under section 7.
If you are covered by a medical card, a lower fee of €10 applies.

There are no fees for the following types of requests or applications:

   I. a request under section 7 for a record or records containing only personal information about yourself
   II. an application under section 17 (your right to have records about yourself corrected)
   III. an application under section 18 (your right to be given reasons why a public body had made a decision which affects you.

Internal Review

If you are making an application for an internal review under section 14 you must send a fee of €75.
If you are a medical card holder or a dependant of a medical card holder, a lower fee of €25 applies.

There are no fees for the following types of internal review applications:

  » an application for review of a decision on records with only personal information about you.
  » an application for review of a decision under section 17 (your right to have records about yourself corrected)
  » an application for review of a decision under section 18 (your right to information about decisions of public bodies that affect you)
  » an application for a review of a decision to charge a fee or deposit, or a fee or deposit of a particular amount.

Review by Information Commissioner

You must send a fee of €150 with an application to the Information Commissioner for review of a decision made by public bodies under section 34.

A lower fee of €50 will apply if

  » you are a medical card holder or a dependant of a medical card holder, or
  » you are a third party with the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner where a public body decides to release their information on public interest grounds.