Freedom of Information Acts

Under Section 15 of the Freedom of Information Act 1997 public bodies are obliged to publish a reference book containing a general description of its structure and organisation, functions, powers and duties, any services it provides for the public and the procedures by which any such services may be availed of by the public.

Under Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 1997 public bodies are obliged to publish a guide to the rules, procedures, practices, guidelines and interpretations used by the body for the purposes of decisions, determinations or recommendations under, or for the purposes of, any enactment or scheme administered by the body.

SECTION 16 - INFORMATION

Information on Freedom of Information rights and procedures

Freedom of Information Acts 1997 to 2003

The Acts assert the right of members of the public to obtain access to official information to the greatest extent possible consistent with the public interest and the right to privacy of individuals.

Requests for information under the FOI Acts can be made to:

Freedom of Information
Freedom of Information Officer
Fingal County Council
County Hall
Swords
Fingal, Co Dublin
Phone: 8905163
Fax: 8905169
Email: foi@fingalcoco.ie

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 1997 was introduced to help the citizen access official information to records created after 21st October 1998. The Act gives the citizen the legal right to:
· Access information held by public bodies
· Have official information relating to them amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading.
· Be informed of reasons for decisions that affect them.

Fee:
A fee of €15 must accompany each request, when seeking information of a non-personal nature. If request is personal the fee does not apply. A reduced fee of €10 applies to person covered by a medical card (please provide medical registration number).

Your request should be in writing, or by Email/Fax, and it should indicate that the information is sought under the Freedom of Information Act 1997.

Your request will be acknowledged within 3 working days and a decision given within four weeks unless an extension is requested by the council because of details of request.

An Internal Review can be requested if you are not happy with our decision and must be made within four weeks of the decision at a fee of €75.

You may seek independent review by the Information Commissioner if you are dissatisfied with the decision by contacting the following address:
Office of the Information Commissioner
18 Lower Leeson Street
Dublin 2
Phone: 6785222
Fax: 6610570
Email:ombudsman@ombudsman.irlgov.ie

SECTION 15 - ABOUT THE FINGAL DEVELOPMENT BOARD

The Community, Recreation and Amenities Department of Fingal County Council supports and facilitates the work of the Fingal Development Board which was established in 2000 as part of the integration of local government and local development initiative.

Mission Statement
The mission of the Fingal Development Board is:
The Fingal Development Board will act as a catalyst to facilitate the timely and effective delivery of the infrastructural and service needs of a county with Ireland's fastest growing population and economy. In achieving this, it will pay particular attention to sustainable development, equality, social integration and cultural enrichment

Fingal Development Board
The Fingal Development Board was established in 2000 as part of a national process of Local Government reform 'Better Local Government'. The Government set out the ambitions for County and City Development Boards in a national policy document called 'A Shared Vision'. Central to the ambitions outlined in this document was the belief that democratic planning at local level would ultimately lead to re-invigorated local government, better local integration of services, community ownership and a better quality of life for all citizens.

Role of the Board
The Fingal Development Board role is to:
· Improve co-ordination and co-operation in the delivery of services at local level thereby improving the quality of those services
· Involve local interests and communities in deciding on how, where and what type of services should be available.

On its establishment, a core function of the Board was to draw up and oversee the implementation of a Strategy for Economic, Social and Cultural Development in the county of Fingal. Following an intensive consultation with key stakeholders and members of the public the FDB Strategy for Economic, Social and Cultural Development of Fingal 2002-2011 was published in 2002. The Strategy identified a large number of actions, 291 in total, and sought to make a significant contribution of improving the integration of services at local level.

Mid-Term Review of the Strategy
In January 2005, after three years of implementation and at the request of the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, all County and City Development Boards initiated a review of their Strategies. The main purpose of the review was to take account of the changed socio-economic circumstances.
In the review the Board was asked to focus on its core co-ordination role and to produce a clearly defined implementation programme for 2006-2008 concentrating on a reduced number of actions. During the Review the Board agreed that future meetings of the Board should become a forum for raising strategic concerns and tackling future challenges in Fingal. The Board also agreed that it needs to play a more pro-active role in facilitating an interface between regional and national policy areas that have an impact on the Council.

Following the Review the Board published Strategy into Action 2006-2008 - Review of FDB Strategy 2002-2011 in May 2006.

The role of the Board and Directorate is to endeavour to ensure that the 16 actions set out in the Revised Strategy are implemented as agreed. The Board also continues to research areas of relevance to the county, establishing committees and structures as appropriate and as instructed by Government Departments.

Rules for Operational Role of the Board
The Board adopted Standing Orders at the first meeting of the Board on the 30th March 2000 and also adopted a set of principles and guiding values on July 5th 2000. All decisions made by the Board are by consensus.

Staff members are expected to adhere to codes of practice and ethical matters as laid out in legislation through the Local Government Act, 2001 and through other legislative enactments or regulations with relevance to the duties for which they are employed. Staff members must also abide by the staff rules and codes of conduct as laid down by Fingal County Council.

Board of Directors
The Board comprises of 34 members nominated from across all sectors of society with the majority of members representing agencies that provide services in the public sector. The balance is drawn from among Local Government Councillors who represent the public in Fingal County Council and Balbriggan Town Council, as well as representatives from the Community and Voluntary Sector.

The names of persons who are Directors of the Board at any time during the year are available on the Board's website http://www.fdb.ie/board_members.aspx or from the Annual Report of the Board.

Staff members
P.J. Howell Director
Ann Marie Farrelly Senior Executive Officer
Eithne Mallin Secretary to the Board
Ciarán Staunton Administrative Officer
Martina O'Connor Administrative Officer
George Curran Administrative Officer
Jackie Fowler Assistant Staff Officer
Anne Marie Gargan Assistant Staff Officer
Valerie Markey Clerical Officer

The offices of the Fingal Development Board are located at County Hall, Swords, Fingal, Co. Dublin.

Contact points
Telephone: 00 353 (0) 1 890 5095
Fax: 00 353 (0) 1 890 6259
Email: fingaldev@fingalcoco.ie
Post: P.O. Box 174,
County Hall,
Main St.,
Swords,
Fingal, Co. Dublin
Publications
A detailed list of FDB publications is available at http://www.fdb.ie/internal_pubs.aspx

Key documents published by the FDB:
· Strategy into Action 2006-2008 - Review of FDB Strategy 2002-2011
· Connecting People, Places and Prosperity - An Economic Strategy for Fingal 2006-2011
· Fingal County Development Board’s A Strategy for the Economic, Social & Cultural Development of Fingal 2002-2012
· Report of the Fingal Data Sharing Initiative
· Voter Turnout in Fingal in the 21st Century

Legislation
Local Government Act 2001 (Part 13, 129)

Records held
The broad categories of records held by the Fingal Development Board are as follows:
· FDB meeting Minutes;
· Minutes of Social Inclusion Monitoring Committee;
· Minutes of various committees/action teams of the Board;
· Minutes of Improved Cohesion Steering Committee;
· Files pertaining to particular FDB projects;
· Details of Financial Accounts;
· General Administration files;
· Tender files where applicable;
· CCS Database - A Database of Community & Voluntary groups registered with the Community Recreation & Amenity Department;
· LGCSB - An online Project Management and Tracking System to track FDB actions. Designed by the Local Government and Computer Services Board, the system is password protected and has a structured search facility and stores supporting documentation. Members of the Board, staff and persons authorised by the Directorate have access to the Tracking System.

Communications
The FDB aims to ensure that its image, functions, and all achievements are presented as user-friendly and in an effectively informative manner to the general public, through media (press releases, FDB newsletter, etc) and website (www.fdb.ie).

A range of information on activities of the FDB is available on this website.