A decision by the information commissioner has allowed access to planning tribunal documents under Freedom of Information legislation for the first time.
The decision by the commissioner, Emily O'Reilly, overturns an earlier refusal by the Department of Environment and the tribunal to make administrative documents of the tribunal available under a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by The Irish Times.
However, the decision took more than five years to make since the date of the application, so most of the documents released are no longer current.
In her decision, Ms O'Reilly also criticised the department for refusing to provide her office with copies of the documents sought and for basing its refusal to provide the documents on advice from the tribunal.
The department was a designated body under Freedom of Information legislation while the tribunal was not, she pointed out.
While it could consult with third parties, the final decision should be made by the public body to which the request was made.
In addition, she said, it was clear she was legally entitled to have access to relevant documents, although this did not mean that they would be released automatically.
"The position adopted by the department is of some concern to me. I have written separately to the department drawing its attention to the need to ensure that such a situation does not recur."
The original Freedom of Information applications were made to the department in March 2001. It sought administrative records of the tribunal but stressed that no confidential material concerning the investigations of the tribunal were being sought.
The department rejected the application after the tribunal argued that it could jeopardise its work.
It also argued that disclosure of the names of recruitment agencies it had used might lead to a breach of security by enabling unscrupulous individuals to "infiltrate" the tribunal by seeking employment through the agencies.
However, Ms O'Reilly said she was satisfied that access to the documents would not disclose confidential matters. She assumed the tribunal vetted staff for possible security risks.
She also apologised for the "long delay" in handling the application. Initial staff shortages in the first years of the commissioner's office led to a build-up of cases, she said, and it took some years to reduce the backlog.
