The Minister for Social Protection has no duty to maintain a database of decisions made by social welfare appeals officers for public access purposes, the High Court has ruled.
There was no right of access to such a database, Mr Justice John Hedigan said. Access to appeal officers’ decisions was sought by Ikraan Jama, a Somali national, for her appeal against a decision she was not eligible for child benefit since the birth of her son here in October 2005, but was eligible from February 2006, when the first decision on her refugee status application was made.
The judge accepted the Minister’s arguments that the database contained personal information and rendering such material anonymous would be very costly.
