Author: Gavin Sheridan

Following the passing of the FOI Act 2014, NAMA became subject to the Act (to a more limited degree than most public bodies) six months after enactment. That was mid April 2015. We sent our first FOI to NAMA on the date NAMA became subject to it. Records were released to us last week.

Our readers will be aware that we have been involved in a long battle with NAMA via the Information Commissioner and the courts to make NAMA subject to the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) Regulations 2007/2011 (similar to FOI). That process started in February 2010 when we emailed them asking for certain information, and NAMA denied it on the basis they they were not a public body under those Regulations. We disagreed with them, and it escalated from there. AIE was the only legal mechanism available to us, as the Finance Minister at the time, Brian Lenihan, had not made NAMA subject to the FOI Act.

The issue of NAMA’s status or not as a public authority under AIE wound its way through the system over the past 5 years and ultimately to the Supreme Court in 2014. We await judgment in the matter, hopefully imminently.

NAMA is now subject to FOI, but not currently subject to AIE – an unusual situation in itself as AIE has a generally more expansive definition of public body than the FOI Act.

This is the first element of what was released to us, the minutes of NAMA board meetings for 2014 (all 332 pages). Approximately 70% of the pages are redacted.