Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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50. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the actions his Department has taken to resolve the disagreement on the interpretation of the Freedom of Information Acts between the Central Bank of Ireland and the Office of the Information Commissioner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13082/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, a partial exemption is provided in Schedule 1 Part 1 of the Freedom of Information Act for the Central Bank. I understand that the Central Bank considered that any records or parts of records which it believed were comprehended by the partial exemption were excluded with no right of appeal.

When the Office of the Information Commissioner brought the interpretation of the Act by the Central Bank to the attention of my Department, the advice of the Attorney General's office was sought. On foot of that advice, my Department issued a Guidance Note clarifying that there is a right of appeal to check whether records sought are in scope and that failure to comply would constitute a breach of the legislation.

My Department wrote to the Central Bank in February 2016 providing it with a copy of the Guidance Note and asking it to confirm that it will provide requesters with a right of internal review and accept the Information Commissioner's role in relation to appeals in accordance with the legislation. The Central Bank confirmed in writing to my Department that they are fully committed to the FOI principles of openness, transparency and accountability and will comply with FOI obligations. I understand that the Central Bank also informed the Information Commissioner and that discussions are taking place between them. My Department has also kept the Department of Finance informed and they remain fully supportive.

As the Deputy will be aware, compliance and enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act is a matter for the Information Commissioner, who is independent in the performance of his functions.