Council ‘not justified’ in withholding records over services on Limerick Greenway
LIMERICK City and County Council has been directed to release dozens of internal records relating to the provision of a bike hire and a shuttle bus service on the Limerick Greenway.
The local authority had refused a Freedom of Information request to disclose around 50 records, to an individual whose expression of interest to operate the service was not successful following an evaluation process which was completed in May 2021.
“The Council then moved forward to negotiate the terms of the arrangement with the successful company, which included access to a working capital loan of €300,000 from the Council,” states a report published by the Information Commissioner.
According to the report, the records sought by the unsuccessful applicant included a number of internal emails and reports as well of correspondence between an elected councillor and a senior council official.
The request also related to a presentation prepared for elected members and a draft version of a letter sent to the successful company.
While 34 documents were either fully or partially released last August, the local authority refused to release a further 50 – citing a variety of reasons including that some contained commercially sensitive information, that their release would cause ‘harm’ to a third-party or that their release was not in the public interest.
It’s decision not to release more than 30 records has now been annulled by the information commissioner who has determined the council’s decision, relating to the specific documents, was not justified.
In his lengthy report, senior investigator Stephen Rafferty, expressed a view that the council “did not have regard” to guidelines and sample questions which the Office of the Information Commission has circulated.
“Its submissions under each of the exemptions claimed were very brief and lacked a comprehensive explanation of how they applied to the record(s) at issue,” he found.
In response to a query from the Limerick Leader, a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council said it has noted the recommendations in the Office of the Information Commissioner decision.
“The Council will continue to respond to each Freedom of Information request it receives and will assess each request on its own merits,” he added.
The unsuccessful applicant has welcomed the decision of the Information Commissioner. “I'm absolutely delighted with the findings and feel vindicated by his findings,” he stated.