Freedom of Information Act 2014 (Section 37(8)) Regulations 2016.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (Section 37(8)) Regulations 2016.
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paragraphs: In these Regulations a reference to a section is a reference to a section of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (No. 30 of 2014).
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paragraphs: The Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Section 28(6)) Regulations 2009 ( S.I. No. 387 of 2009 ), referred to in these Regulations as the “2009 Regulations”, are revoked but any action commenced under the 2009 Regulations shall continue to be performed and shall be completed after the commencement of these Regulations as if the 2009 Regulations had not been revoked.
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paragraphs: Notwithstanding section 37(1), an FOI request may be made for records which involves the disclosure of personal information (including personal information relating to a deceased individual), and shall, subject to the other provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 , be granted if the case falls—
(a) within a case to which Regulation 5 applies and, in addition, the condition specified in Regulation 6 is satisfied, or
(b) within a case to which Regulation 7 applies.
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paragraphs: This Regulation applies to a case in which the requester is a parent or guardian of the individual to whom the record concerned relates and that individual belongs to one of the following classes of individual:
(a) individuals who, on the date of the request, have not attained full age, or
(b) individuals who have attained full age, being individuals who—
(i) at the time of the request have, or are subject to, a psychiatric condition, mental incapacity or severe physical disability, the incidence and nature of which are certified by a registered medical practitioner, and
(ii) by reason of that condition, incapacity or disability, are incapable of exercising their rights under the Act.
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paragraphs: The condition referred to in Regulation 4(a) is that the individual specified in Regulation 5 is an individual access to whose records would, in the opinion of the head having regard to all the circumstances, be in the individual’s best interests.
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paragraphs: This Regulation applies to a case in which the individual to whom the record concerned relates is dead (“the individual”) and either—
(a) the requester concerned belongs to one or other of the following classes:
(i) a personal representative of the individual acting in due course of administration of the individual’s estate or any person acting with the consent of a personal representative so acting,
(ii) a person on whom a function is conferred by law in relation to the individual or his or her estate acting in the course of the performance of the function, or
(b) the requester is the spouse or the next of kin of the individual and, in the opinion of the head, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest, including the public interest in the confidentiality of personal information, would on balance be better served by granting than by refusing to grant the request.
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paragraphs: For the purposes of Regulation 7:
(a) issue,
(b) parent,
(c) brother or sister,
(d) a niece or nephew, or
(e) any other person standing nearest in blood relationship to the individual in accordance with section 71 (2) of the Succession Act 1965 (No.27 of 1965),
(a) a party to a marriage that has been dissolved, being a dissolution that is recognised as valid in the State, and a person who is living apart from his or her spouse pursuant to a deed of separation;
(b) a man or woman who was not married to, but cohabited as a spouse with, the deceased individual; and
(c) a civil partner within the meaning of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 (No.24 of 2010).
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paragraphs: The definition of “next of kin” in Regulation 8 shall operate so that, where more than one paragraph of it is applicable in a given case, the person falling within whichever paragraph is numerically the lowest shall alone be regarded as the next of kin of the individual concerned.