Wait A Minute – What About An FOI Request?

Recent media reports have alleged that records of official meetings held at Northern Ireland Parliament Buildings, Stormont, were not kept in order to avoid the records falling subject to an FOI request. The reports have been denied. However, it has highlighted a common concern for FOI bodies. This is how to balance the requirements of good governance and the keeping of full and accurate minutes, on the one hand, with the risk of having to disclose such minutes under FOI, on the other.

How FOI applies to meeting minutes

In Ireland, any person can submit a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI Act) seeking access to any “records” held by an FOI body. “Record” is defined very broadly in the FOI Act, and essentially includes anything capable of embodying data. There is no doubt that written minutes of FOI bodies fall within the definition. So too would unapproved or draft minutes, where they fall within the scope of the request received.