You may request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 in writing or via email. Requests should be addressed to:

Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Affairs
Wicklow County Council
County Buildings
Wicklow Town

Phone: (0404) 20257
Email: foi@wicklowcoco.ie

Please note the following:

• The request must specify that you are seeking the information under the Freedom of Information Act
• The request must identify the records that you want to access and give enough information to allow us to clearly identify the records sought. In order to avoid delays be as clear and specific as possible when you are requesting records
• Include a telephone number or email address and your postal address; this will assist should the Council need to contact you
• No fee is due at application stage
• You must specify if you require access to the records to be given in a particular form or manner. For example, do you want photocopies of the records?
• Your request will be acknowledged within two weeks
• A decision on the request will be made within four weeks; however, if the request is particularly complex or if there are a large number of records involved the time limit may be extended to eight weeks. If you do not receive a response to your request within four weeks the Act deems your request to have been refused.

(Note: “Week” means a period of five consecutive week days and, in determining such a period, a Saturday or a public holiday (within the meaning of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997) shall be disregarded and “weeks” shall be construed accordingly.)

What fees are payable in relation to my request?

Fees may be charged for search, retrieval and copying of the records requested. This process involves two stages:

1. Locating the broad set of records in which those requested might be found
2. Identifying, extracting and assembling the particular records sought for examination

Fees for the estimated cost of searching for and retrieving records and copying the records can only be charged with respect to records being released. €20 is charged for each hour spent searching for and retrieving records and €0.04 is charged per sheet for a photocopy of the records released.

In cases where search and retrieval fees apply, we are obliged to charge a deposit of at least 20% of the estimate to the requester.

How do I appeal the Council’s decision?

Internal Review

You may seek an Internal Review of the Council’s initial decision in relation to your request, if

• You are dissatisfied with the initial decision received, eg refusal of information, form of access etc., partial release of information, or
• You have not received a reply within four weeks of the initial application – this is deemed to be a refusal of the request and allows you to seek an Internal Review

Please note the following:

• A request for an internal review must be submitted in writing within four weeks of the initial decision
• In most cases, a standard fee of €30 must accompany an application for an internal review. A reduced fee of €10 applies to medical card holders
• Internal reviews are carried out by a staff member of a higher rank that that of the staff member who made the decision in the first instance
• The Council must complete the review within three weeks

A request for an Internal Review should be submitted in writing to:

The Freedom of Information Office
Wicklow County Council
County Buildings
Station Road
Wicklow Town
Email: foi@wicklowcoco.ie

Independent review by the Information Commissioner

Following completion of the Internal Review, you may seek an independent review of the decision from the Information Commissioner. An applicant may also appeal to the Commissioner if the Council does not reply to their request for an internal review of the original decision within three weeks – as this is deemed to be a refusal.

Please note the following:

• An application for review by the Information Commissioner must be made within sic months of notification of the decision by the freedom of information body
• An internal review must normally be completed before an appeal may be made to the Information Commissioner
• The decisions of the Information Commissioner are binding. However, you can appeal a decision to the High Court on a point of law
• A standard fee of €50 must accompany an application for an independent review to the Information Commissioner. A reduced fee of €15 applies for medical card holders or their dependents

Appeals must be made directly in writing to the Information Commissioner at the following address:

Office of the Information Commissioner
18 Lower Leeson Street
Dublin 2

Phone: (01) 6395689
Lo-call: 1890 223 030
Email: info@oic.ie