A request for a record made under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997 – FOI – must meet the requirements laid down in section 7(1) of the Act in order to be considered valid. First, the request must be made in writing to the public body that holds the record – a public body for the purposes of the FOI Act is a body listed in the first schedule of the Act. Second, it must be specified that the request is being made under the FOI Act. Finally, the request must contain sufficient particulars to enable the record to be found by taking reasonable steps.
Similar requirements apply where an application under section 18 of the Act is made to a public body for a statement of reasons for decisions affecting the person or under section 17 where the application is for personal information to be corrected where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading.