What Freedom of Information is
The Freedom of Information Act 2014 came into effect on 14 October 2014. Under the Freedom of Information Act, everyone is entitled to apply for access to information not made routinely or publicly available.
All of Ireland is now a Rent Pressure Zone
From 20 June 2025, all private and student specific accommodation tenancies in Ireland now come under Rent Pressure Zone rules – Read more.
The Freedom of Information Act 2014 came into effect on 14 October 2014. Under the Freedom of Information Act, everyone is entitled to apply for access to information not made routinely or publicly available.
The RTB has a FOI Publication Scheme which regularly shares information with the public as part of its normal business activities. Before you make an FOI request, please visit the <Publication Scheme Section> to check that the information you are looking for is not already available.
You must apply in writing and indicate that you are seeking the information under the Freedom of Information Act. A copy of the RTB FOI Request Form can be found here. In your correspondence, give as much information as possible about the records you are seeking.
Tell us how you want to receive the records, for example by post or e-mail. Provide a telephone number so that we can contact you if necessary. Send your completed form by email or post:
There is no charge for accessing personal records, correcting personal information or accessing decisions directly affecting you. For non-personal requests, we may apply a charge for the time spent retrieving and copying the requested material. We will tell you in writing if fees apply. You can contact us for a full list of fees. Payments are payable to the RTB bank account. The FOI Unit will provide these details if necessary.
You have a right to:
You are entitled to access:
Once we receive your FOI request, we will:
We will review every record located according to your request. We may then decide to:
We will send the final decision to your request electronically, unless you have asked for printed copies of any records that are released. If we partially grant or refuse the request, we will give reasons for the decision.
If you’re unhappy with our decision, you can request an internal review. The appeal process is a full reassessment of your original FOI request by a more senior member of staff than the original decision-maker. Send you applications for internal review in writing to:
You must pay an internal review fee of €30 (€10 for medical card holders) to appeal a decision. You should send this with your written submission to the RTB. An internal review will only begin once the payment has been received. If your request is for access to your personal records, there is no fee for an appeal. After the internal review, if you’re still unhappy with the decision, you can appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner. Visit www.oic.ie for more details.
As part of the FOI Publication Scheme we publish information about FOI requests in <our disclosure log>. The log does not include any personal information that could identify you.
Visit the links below for more information on Freedom of Information.