Thread: Dept of Justice claimed there were zero records of communication between former Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Terry Prone of the Communications Clinic. Review by Information Commissioner finds there were at least sixty eight ... sixty eight!! 
That was without any attempt having been made to check if other records were held on private email addresses or messaging services. Dept of Justice said it would "not be appropriate" to ask Min. Fitzgerald if such records exist. Fortunately, Information Commissioner disagrees:
Information Commissioner says it is not "particularly relevant" that Minister Fitzgerald no longer works at the Department. Says if people are using gmail addresses for their work, then the content cannot be considered "private"
Lest you think these mysterious 68 records will now be made public; not so fast. We could be heading into "private papers" territory again. Don't forget this was legislation designed to protect whistle-blowers but which has mainly been used to keep political expenses hidden:
Information Commissioner has now directed the Dept of Justice to ask former minister Frances Fitzgerald if she holds records relevant to this request. If Frances Fitzgerald does have such records, she is to retrieve them & furnish them to the Dept so a proper decision can be made
This was the original request, made all the way back in March of 2017. The wheels turn slowly:
Many journalists will be happy to see this too. Information Commissioner points out to the Department that they can't just seek four week extensions on FOI requests unless they actually follow the rules. They do this all the time.
This request was made & pursued via @RightToKnowIE. We cannot pursue such work without your help so do please consider supporting us and thank you so much to those who have already done so: righttoknow.ie/support-us/
This decision is a very useful one for reporters. Journalists making requests should make sure to specify that searches should take place of private emails, messaging services if they believe parallel or unofficial channels of communication are being used.
