Mr E and Health Service Executive (Health Service Executive) [2022] IEIC 127468 (16 December 2022)

Mr E and Health Service Executive (Health Service Executive) [2022] IEIC 127468 (16 December 2022)

The HSE was not justified in refusing access to records relating to the outsourcing of occupational health services as it had not taken all reasonable steps to ascertain their whereabouts; however, it was justified in refusing access to further communications as all reasonable searches had been conducted and no further records exist.

Citation
[2022] IEIC 127468
Parties
Applicant: Mr E; Respondent: Health Service Executive
Jurisdiction
Ireland
Judgment Date
16 December 2022
Procedural Posture
FOI Review / Decision on Review
Outcome
partly affirmed, partly annulled
Legal Topics
Access to Records, Section 15(1)(a) FOI Act, Outsourcing of Occupational Health Services, Adequacy of Searches

Case Brief

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Parties

Mr E

Applicant

Health Service Executive

Respondent

Procedural Posture

FOI Review / Decision on Review

  1. 1 Whether the HSE was justified in refusing access to records on the basis of section 15(1)(a) of the FOI Act

Ratio Decidendi

The HSE was not justified in refusing access to records relating to the outsourcing of occupational health services as it had not taken all reasonable steps to ascertain their whereabouts; however, it was justified in refusing access to further communications as all reasonable searches had been conducted and no further records exist.

Court Disposition

partly affirmed, partly annulled

Orders

  • HSE to carry out searches and make a fresh decision regarding records on outsourcing of occupational health services.
  • HSE's refusal of further communications records affirmed.