Freedom of Information Act, 1997

Restriction of Act.

46.—(1) This Act does not apply to—

(a) a record held by—

(i) the courts,

(ii) a tribunal to which the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act, 1921 , is applied, or

(iii) a service tribunal within the meaning of section 161 of the Defence Act, 1954 ,

and relating to, or to proceedings in, a court or such a tribunal other than—

(I) a record that relates to proceedings in a court or such a tribunal held in public but was not created by the court or tribunal and whose disclosure to the general public is not prohibited by the court or the tribunal, or

(II) a record relating to the general administration of the courts or the offices of the courts or such a tribunal or any offices of such a tribunal,

(b) a record held or created by the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Office of the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions (other than a record concerning the general administration of either of those Offices),

(c) a record relating to—

(i) a review under section 34 or an investigation under section 36 ,

(ii) an audit, inspection or examination carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General under the Comptroller and Auditor General Acts, 1923 and 1993, the Exchequer and Audit Department Acts, 1866 and 1921, or any other enactment, or

(iii) an investigation or examination carried out by the Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act, 1980 ,

other than—

(I) such a record that was created before the commencement of the review, investigation, audit, inspection or examination aforesaid, or

(II) a record relating to the general administration of the Office of the Commissioner, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General or the Office of the Ombudsman,

(d) a record relating to the President,

(e) a record relating to any of the private papers (within the meaning of Article 15.10 of the Constitution) of a member of either House of the Oireachtas or an official document of either or both of such Houses that is required by the rules or standing orders of either or both of such Houses to be treated as confidential, or

(f) a record relating to information whose disclosure could reasonably be expected to reveal or lead to the revelation of—

(i) the identity of a person who has provided information to a public body in confidence in relation to the enforcement of the criminal law, or

(ii) any other source of such information provided in confidence to a public body.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), this Act does not apply to—

(a) a record that is available for inspection by members of the public whether upon payment or free of charge, or

(b) a record a copy of which is available for purchase or removal free of charge by members of the public,

whether by virtue of an enactment (other than this Act) or otherwise.

(3) A record shall not be within subsection (2) by reason only of the fact that it contains information constituting personal data to which the Data Protection Act, 1988 , applies.