Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2014 provides the following statutory rights:

• A legal right for each person to access information held by a body to which FOI legislation applies,
• A legal right for each person to have official information relating to himself/herself amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading,
• A legal right to obtain reasons for decisions affecting himself/herself.

You can ask for the following records:

• Any records relating to you personally, whenever they were created,
• All other records created after 21 April 1998.

A record can be a paper document or information held on computer.  It includes, for example, printouts, maps, plans, microfilm, audio-visual material, disks and tapes.

Details of how to make a request and applicable fees are available below.

Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 requires FOI bodies to prepare and publish a scheme concerning the publication of information by the body in conformity with a model publication scheme or guidelines made by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Under the Publication Scheme, each FOI body shall:

• Set out information to assist members of the public in their understanding of the body and its functions,
• Publish the information it holds grouped under the information headings set out in the table below, and,
• Explain the procedures to get access to information or to establish what information the body holds.

Údarás na Gaeltachta has published information on various pages on this website. The information and links to the pages are grouped under the information headings set out below under the Publication Scheme. You can choose a heading to find the information under that section.

A broad range of services and supports are available across a wide variety of areas:

Support for Businesses

Irish Language Initiatives

The Language Planning Process

Community Development

Training & Employment

The Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta is responsible for the broad strategies and policies of Údarás na Gaeltachta. On the recommendation of the Executive, the Board approves investments, supports, grant-aid and the purchase and sale of assets undertaken by the authority for the purposes of enterprise development and employment creation, the promotion of the Irish language and culture and the development of Gaeltacht communities.

Financial Statements

Payments or Purchase Orders for goods and services

Payments or Purchase Orders for goods and services

In accordance with Section 8 of the FOI Act (publication of information about FOI bodies), this organisation is required to publish its FOI disclosure log on its website.  This disclosure log will provide details of certain FOI requests that do not relate to requests for personal information such as:

• Date of the request,
• Category of requestor (e.g. journalist, member of the public, member of business/interest group, member of the Oireachtas, member of local authority, etc.),
• Summary description of the FOI request,
• Decision made and, in the event that the request is granted, the date of release of records.

Accordingly, when acknowledging FOI requests, the applicant is informed of this policy.

Details of FOI requests received from April 2016 onwards will be published, as appropriate, in the organisation’s FOI disclosure log on its website.

FOI Request Log 2024

FOI Request Log 2023

FOI Request Log 2022

FOI Request Log: 2021

FOI Request log: 2020

FOI Request log: 2019

FOI Request log: 2018

FOI Request log: 2017

FOI Request log: 2016

If the information you require is not available through the above mentioned channels, you may wish to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.

Requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 should be made in writing to:

The Freedom of Information Officer
Údarás na Gaeltachta
Na Forbacha
Co. na Gaillimhe

H91 TY22
asf@udaras.ie

The request should state that the request is being made under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Note:

• Údarás na Gaeltachta is required to acknowledge receipt of a request under the Act within 10 working days and is obliged to respond to the request within 20 working days (subject to certain exceptions).
• If information is desired in a particular form, (e.g. photocopy, computer disk, etc.), this should be mentioned in your application.
• Please give as much information as possible to enable staff to identify the record.

Appeals

If you are not satisfied with the response, you can seek to have the decision re-examined. If you are still dissatisfied with the decision, you have the right to appeal the decision to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner investigates complaints of non-compliance with FOI legislation and generally promotes a freedom of information culture in the public service.

Office of the Information Commissioner: www.oic.ie

FOI Central Policy Unit: foi.gov.ie

Fees

Upfront Fee
An upfront fee no longer applies to Non-Personal or Mixed Requests since 14 October 2014.

Search and Retrieval/Photocopying Fees (from 14 October 2014):

Fees may be charged in respect of the time spent in locating and copying records, based on a standard hourly rate of €20.00 for search and retrieval and €0.04 for copying per page. The first 5 hours (€100) of search and retrieval is free. Once the charge exceeds €100, full fees apply.

There is a cap on the amount of search and retrieval and copying fees that can be charged of €500 (25 hours approx.) i.e. an FOI request that costs €650 is charged at €500. There is a further upper limit on estimated search and retrieval and copying fees at €700 (35 hours) above which an FOI body can refuse to process the request, unless you are prepared to refine the request to bring the search and retrieval and copying fees below the limit.

A deposit is payable where the total fee for search and retrieval is likely to exceed €100. In these circumstances, the organisation will notify you.