Section 27 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 provides for fees and charges as follows:
| Type of Request or Application | Standard Fee* | Reduced Fee** |
|---|---|---|
| Initial request for a record from TU Dublin under Section 12 | No charge | No charge |
| Internal Review by TU Dublin under Section 21 | €30 | €10 |
| External Review by Information Commissioner under Section 22 | €50 | €15 |
| Application for amendment of a record containing incorrect, incomplete or misleading personal information by TU Dublin under Section 9 | No charge | No charge |
| Application for reasons for a decision affecting the individual by TU Dublin under Section 10 | No charge | No charge |
*Fee will not apply where a person appeals a decision to charge a fee or deposit, or a fee or deposit of a particular amount under Section 27 of the FOI Act.
**Reduced fee will apply in respect of persons covered by a medical card and third parties who appeal a decision of a public body to release their information on public interest grounds. Evidence of proof is required to be submitted by a medical card holder or the dependent of same who wishes to pay the reduced fees for a review under section 21 or section 22. A copy of the current medical card and written consent that the details may be verified if required must be submitted to the FOI Office.
Internal Review
A standard “up-front” fee of €30 must accompany an application for internal review under section 21. A reduced fee of €10 applies if the person bringing the application is a medical card holder or a dependent of a medical card holder. No charge applies to the following internal review applications:
- an application in relation to a decision concerning records containing personal information in relation to the requester, including a person belonging to a class of persons specified in regulations under section 37(8)
- an application in relation to a decision under section 9 concerning an amendment of records relating to personal information
- an application in relation to a decision under section 10 concerning a statement of the reasons for a decision affecting the person
- an application in relation to a decision to charge a fee or deposit, or a fee or deposit of a particular amount, under section 27
An internal reviewer may affirm, annul or vary an original decision. An internal reviewer may, therefore, affirm the initial decision to charge a fee or deposit, annul such a decision and decide that no fee or deposit is chargeable, or decide to charge a fee or deposit of a higher or lower amount. The basis for any variation made to the original fee should be properly documented.
External Review by Information Commissioner
A standard fee of €50 must accompany applications to the Information Commissioner under section 22. A reduced fee of €15 applies if:
- the person bringing the application is a medical card holder or a dependent of a medical card holder, or
- the person is specified in section 38(2) i.e. a third party with the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner where TU Dublin decides to release their information on public interest grounds.
No charge applies to the following applications to the Information Commissioner:
- an application concerning records containing personal information relating to the requester (including applications arising from requests under section 37(8))
- an application in relation to a decision under section 9 (right of amendment of records relating to personal information)
- an application in relation to a decision under section 10 (right of a person to information regarding acts of FOI bodies affecting that person).
- an application in relation to a decision to charge a fee or deposit, or a fee or deposit of a particular amount.
Deemed refusals
A review under section 21 or Section 22 of the FOI Act may arise in a case where the University has failed to respond to an initial request for a record or, as the case may be, to a review application under section 21 within the necessary time limit, as set out in section 19. Such decisions mean that the requester will have made no progress in relation to his or her request and can be distinguished from a decision issued in accordance with the detailed requirements of section 13 of the Act to refuse or partly refuse a request.
A review under section 21 or Section 22 arising from section 19 decisions deemed to have been made should carry no appeal fee.
Medical Card Holders
A medical card holder or the dependent of same who wishes to pay the reduced fees for a review under section 21 or section 22 has an onus to provide evidence in support of such coverage. While the form of such evidence will be a matter for the University to consider, it is suggested that this could be a copy of the current medical card and written consent that the details may be verified if required.
The reduction in the fee for medical card holders does not apply if there is evidence to suggest that the request is being made on behalf of some other person who is seeking to avoid the payment of the standard fee. In the case of a dispute, the requester may apply for an internal review of the decision to charge the standard fee rather than the reduced fee.
Refund of Fees
An appeal fee should be refunded where the requester withdraws a request in full before a final decision on the request is made.
Application under sections 9 and section 10
No charge applies to an application under section 9 (right of amendment of personal information) or section 10 (reasons for decisions of TU Dublin affecting the person). A review of a decision on such an application under section 21 or section 22 of the Act is also free of charge.