The Freedom of Information Act, 1997 has been enacted to enable the members of the public to obtain access to any information in the possession of public bodies, to the greatest extent possible and consistent with the public interest and right to privacy. The Act enables to correct personal information relating to oneself, held by any public body where it is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading and also enables to access reasons for decisions made by the Department directly affecting you.
The provisions of the Act provides assistance to persons in order to enable them to exercise such rights and also provides for the independent review both of decisions of such bodies relating to that right and the operation of this Act generally including the proceedings of such bodies pursuant to this Act. To implement the above-mentioned objectives, the Act provides for the establishment of the Office of Information Commissioner and defines its functions. The Act amends the Official Secrets Act, 1963 and provides for related matters.
