FAQs on Model Publication Scheme – Members Area
Material which would be exempt under the FOI Act 2014, should an FOI request be received should not be published in the Publication Scheme.
There is no need to publish backdated information e.g. Annual Reports, old request details. Disclosure Logs will be from the date of each FOI body’s Publication Scheme.
Websites need not be redesigned but rather links be provided from the Publication Scheme to the relevant section/page of the website.
The Scheme should be reviewed and updated every 3 years but the content should be reviewed on an annual basis, bearing in mind that some content such as financial information and procurement is required to updated on a more frequent basis.
The basic Scheme is to be available in hard copy. This should include the links to various sections of the organisation’s website, as appropriate. It is not the intention to produce every link in hard copy, however members of the public should be facilitated where they give notice of 24 hours that they wish to view particular documents in hard copy.
It is recommended that the Publication Scheme be located on the home page of each FOI body’s website. A link to the Scheme should also be provided in the FOI section of each organisations website, in addition to any other area the FOI body deems appropriate e.g. About Us section, Publication section etc.
The requirement for Disclosure Logs is set out in Section 6 of the Code of Practice and inclusion of replies/records is voluntary. FOI bodies should bear in mind however that the Publication Scheme is to promote proactive publication of information, and where certain records are released under the FOI Act on a regular basis the body should consider publishing these as part of the Scheme under Section F.
It is envisaged that details should be published where funding by way of a grant or sponsorship is provided from public funds to non-public bodies (or individuals). The threshold of €10,000 refers to the total amount of funding in a calendar year (e.g. an NGO may receive two payments of €5,000 within a year – this should be published).
A link to the eTenders website will not be sufficient for procurement details of FOI bodies, as the information to be published via the Scheme is not easily accessible to the general public via eTenders.
This was considered and the CPU sought suggestions from such bodies with regard to the information that they can provide and the information that such bodies would deem impractical to include in the Scheme. The response to that request was very low. The guidance document does provide that there will be a limited number of cases where an FOI body comprises a committee, tribunal or Board that do not have ongoing functions. In such cases the FOI body can meet the requirements of the publication scheme by drawing attention to where the information is contained in its Annual Report, or on its website (if any).
Public bodies named under the Official Languages Act, must look at their own Irish Language scheme and determine if a commitment to make such a publication available in Irish has been made. Language duties imposed on public bodies named under the Official Languages Act – can be found here: Language Duties of Public Bodies
The Model Publication Scheme has been translated into Irish and is available in both English and Irish below.
Model Publication Scheme
