Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 & 2003

The Royal Irish Academy became a prescribed body under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 1997 and the Freedom of Information Act (Amendment) 2003, on 31 May 2006.

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Acts established three new statutory rights:

• a legal right for each person to access information held by public bodies;
• a legal right for each person to have official information relating to him/herself amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading; and
• a legal right to obtain reasons for decisions affecting oneself.

The Acts assert the right of members of the public to obtain access to official information to the greatest extent possible consistent with the public interest and the right to privacy of individuals.

Freedom of Information in the Royal Irish Academy

The Royal Irish Academy makes information routinely available to the public about its functions and activities, through its publications and website www.ria.ie. This information continues to be available without the need to use the FOI Acts. The most important available sources of information on the Royal Irish Academy are:

Annual Reviews, Strategic Plan 2002 and other publications of the Academy
The Academy library
The Academy website
A FOI reference book has been prepared and published in accordance with the requirements of Sections 15 and 16 of the FOI Acts. This can be downloaded here.

In accordance with Section 15 of the Act, the purpose of this reference book is to facilitate access to official information held by the Royal Irish Academy by outlining the structure and functions of the organisation, providing information on the classes of records we hold, and information on how to make a request to the Academy under the Freedom of Information Acts.

How to use the Reference Book

Part 1 - Access to Information – explains how to access information from us under the Freedom of Information Act and any fees that may arise.

Part 2 - Our Role and Structure - outlines the role of the Royal Irish Academy and its organisational structure. This part gives a breakdown of our internal structure and organisation. Information is provided under the following headings:

• Role – outlines the main work we do.
• Structure – gives details of our personnel structure.
• Work we do – provides a synopsis of our main activities.
• Classes of records held – details the classes under which we hold records.
• Contact points– how to contact us for assistance.
• Rules and Practices – this information is in the process of being provided in accordance with Section 16 of the FOI Act as amended. Where we provide any scheme impacting on the public within the meaning of Section 16 of the Act, then the rules and practices that we use in delivery of this scheme will be outlined or referenced under the Rules and Practices heading.

Making a Request

The application form for requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act can be downloaded here.

Please forward completed application forms to: -

Freedom of Information Unit
Royal Irish Academy
19 Dawson Street
Dublin 2

E-mail: foiria.ie

If information is desired in a particular form, (e.g. photocopy, computer disk, personal viewing etc.), this should be mentioned in your application.

Please give as much information as possible to enable the staff of the Academy to identify the record. Please include a daytime contact telephone number to enable our staff dealing with your application to contact you should any clarification be required in relation to your request.