An Garda Síochána has been told to release all records they hold about providing incorrect figures to the Department of Justice on policing strength.
Last year, An Garda made a formal apology to the then-Justice Minister Helen McEntee after providing data that appeared to show a sudden jump in the number of gardaí stationed in her constituency.
The Department of Justice, which provided the information in a parliamentary question, subsequently had to withdraw it.
In the wake of that, Right to Know sought copies of all records held by An Garda on how the incorrect figures had been provided and the fallout from it.
Under legislation, the gardaí are only subject to FOI in an extremely limited way for matters relating to finance, procurement, and human resources.
Unlike in other countries, all information relating to operational policing or for example, crime figures is entirely off-limits.
Even with that, An Garda sought to exempt documents on this controversy saying the FOI Act did not apply to them even though they related directly to human resources.
A summary of their position said: “[An Garda] says the provision of information to the Department for the purposes of replying to PQs is not an administrative matter relating to human resources, finance, or procurement, rather it is a statutory obligation under section 40 of the Garda Síochána Act.”
We argued that a blanket exemption like this could not be applied and each record should have been assessed on its merits.
We also queried why An Garda had not supplied a schedule of records, as is considered best practice under the FOI Act.
The Information Commissioner found in our favour saying: “I do not accept the proposition that if records which relate to administrative matters concerning human resources are provided pursuant to a statutory duty they cease to be human resources records for the purposes of FOI.”