Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 governs access to information held by State bodies, including the OPR.

The FOI legislation provides that every person has the following legal rights:

• the right to access official records held by Government Departments or other public bodies covered by the Act;
• the right to have personal information held on them corrected or updated where such information is incomplete, incorrect or misleading; and
• the right to be given reasons for decisions taken by public bodies that affect them.

How to make an FOI request

The OPR is committed to transparency in our work processes; accordingly, it is not necessary to make an FOI request to get information from the OPR. A considerable amount of information is available to the public through our website and, if you contact our Office, it is likely that we can provide you with the information you seek outside of the requirements of the Act.

Where a formal request is being made under the Act it should be directed to the OPR’s Freedom of Information Officer, contact details are provided below.

Please note that details of FOI requests will be included in our Disclosures Log on this website.

When you make a request, you should:

• specify that the request is being made under the FOI Act;
• identify the records being sought in a clear and specific manner, giving as much information as possible to enable us to identify the records sought;
• where possible, indicate the time period to which the records relate e.g. records created between 3 April 2019 and 1 June 2019;
• provide contact details, including a daytime telephone number to facilitate ease of communication; and,
• where personal information is being requested, proof of identity will be required e.g. Driving Licence, Passport or other form of identity. Please include a copy of one of these documents with your request.

Under usual circumstances, the OPR will issue a formal acknowledgement within two weeks, and a decision within four weeks of receipt of request.

There is no application fee for requests. There may be charges for the time spent retrieving records and you will be advised if these apply.

Contact Details:

Freedom of Information Officer

Office of the Planning Regulator
Fourth Floor
Park House
Grangegorman,
191-193A North Circular Road,
Dublin 7
D07 EWV4

Email: foi@opr.ie

Review and Appeal

If you are dissatisfied with the OPR’s decision in relation to a FOI request you can seek an internal review of the decision.  An internal review is a complete reconsideration of your request by a more senior member of staff in the OPR.  Applications for internal review should be made in writing to the FOI Officer.

There is an application fee of €30, (€10 euro for requesters covered by medical cards), for applications for internal review of FOI requests. There is no charge for an application for internal review of a decision relating to the requester’s personal information or for an application for internal review of a decision to charge fees.

If you are unhappy with the decision made by the internal reviewer, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner, whose contact details are:

Office of the Information Commissioner

18 Lower Leeson Street
Dublin 2
Telephone: 01-6395689
Lo call 1890-223030

Email: info@oic.ie