For your information

The Freedom of Information Act came into effect for the third level sector on 1 October 2001. Under the Act you have the right to obtain information about public bodies, to obtain your own personal information held by public bodies, and to have this information amended if it is incomplete, misleading or incorrect. It is also possible to obtain reasons for decisions which have materially affected you. Under the Act public bodies are required to publish information about themselves including internal structures, records held and the policies and procedures by which the organisation is governed.

It is worth noting that the definition of 'record' under the Act is very wide. It includes any type of medium on which data is recorded - paper, electronic databases, emails, books, plans, maps and drawings. And yes, the rumour is true; post-it notes come into this category.

DCU's Freedom of Information Officer, Joe Maxwell, will be happy to assist you with any queries you might have. He has developed his own webpage which provides an introduction to the Act, as well as a list of the most frequently asked questions; these will provide you with an idea of the scope of the Act. If you want to learn more, you can visit the following webpage:

http://www.dcu.ie/foi/

Joe Maxwell can be contacted at:
tel: 7007070 or
joseph.maxwell@dcu.ie