The MHC, which includes the Inspector of Mental Health Services and the Director, Decision Support Service, is committed to the European Union (Open Data and Re-use of Public Sector Information) Regulations 2021.
The Regulations was transposed into Irish law by SI 376/2021 on 22 July 2021. The purpose of the Regulation is to encourage the release of all appropriate high value government data as open data by default, making open data publicly available and freely reusable, unless access is restricted or excluded.
Making a request for re-use
Any person (natural or legal) may make a request for the re-use of documents from the MHC under the Regulations by forwarding a request to the MHC Open Data Liaison Officer (see details below).
When making a request, a right to access the data being requested, must be shown under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (for more information on how to submit a Freedom of Information request please see the Freedom of Information section on the websites of the Mental Health Commission) or by way of a specific provision in law e.g., the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 to 2014, General Data Protection Legislation (“GDPR”), other specific legislation etc.
The MHC, where it decides to allow the re-use of a document, shall process the request and deliver the documents within 20 working days, from receipt of the request, in accordance with the Regulations, and subject to the conditions and restrictions set out therein (or 40 working days if a request is extensive or complex). If the MHC requires further time, we shall notify the requester and provide reasons. The MHC shall make the document available to the requester in any pre-existing format or language, by electronic means where possible and appropriate, in a format that is open, machine-readable, accessible, findable and re-usable, together with its metadata, and the format and metadata shall, where possible, comply with formal open standards.
Where complying with a request for re-use of documents involves the processing of personal data, this will be subject to the requirements of GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, including the requirement for a lawful basis, transparency and purpose limitation.
Where the MHC decides to refuse a request, we shall communicate the grounds for refusal to the requester.
Where the MHC refuses a request, the requester may appeal the decision to the Appeal Commissioner. The role of the Appeal Commissioner is to review decisions to refuse to allow re-use of documents, to refuse to grant an exclusive right to re-use documents, decisions on charges to be applied and conditions being imposed on re-use. Further information on this please go to the website of the Appeals Commissioner.
The MHC shall not charge a fee for processing and delivering a document to the requester.
It is important to note, that the Regulations:
- Apply only to existing documents held by the MHC.
- Do not create any new rights of access to information.
- Do not require the MHC to create, adapt, provide extracts (where the effort is disproportionate) of, a document.
- Apply only in so far as they are compatible with legislation regarding copyright or intellectual property.
- Do not circumscribe the protection of personal data or Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation.
- Do not permit the release of information in a manner that is otherwise prohibited by law.
- Do not apply to documents held by the MHC regarding any activity falling outside the public task and scope of the MHC.
- Do not apply to legally privileged information.
How may the information be re-used?
A document held by the MHC may be re-used for a commercial or non-commercial purpose other than the initial purpose within the public task for which the document was produced. This may occur by copying, issuing copies to the public, publishing, broadcasting and translating into other languages.
The requester must re-use the documents in accordance with the law and the PSI Licence available at the Creative Commons website. In summary re-use is subject to the requester:
- Acknowledging the source (DSS or MHC) and our copyright in cases where you supply the information to others.
- Reproducing the information accurately.
- Not using the information in a misleading way.
- Not using the information for the principal purpose of advertising or promoting a particular product or service.
- Not using the information for, or in support of, illegal, immoral, fraudulent, or dishonest purposes.
While the MHC makes every effort to ensure that information on its website (which includes the DSS website) is accurate, it does not certify that the information is up-to-date or error free. The MHC does not allow any user to have exclusive rights to re-use its information. The MHC shall not accept liability for any loss or liability associated with the re-use of the documents by the requester.
All the information which features on the MHC (and the DSS websites) is the copyright of the Mental Health Commission unless stated otherwise. You may re-use the information on this website free of charge in any format.
Where may I get more information?
If you need more information about the re-use of documents, you may contact the Open Data Liaison Officer at the Mental Health Commission. S/he may be contacted by post or by email. The contact details are as follows:
By post
Open Data Liaison Officer, Mental Health Commission, The Waterloo Exchange, Waterloo Road, Dublin 4, D04 E5W7
By email
Open Data Portal
Data.gov.ie is the central portal which provides access to governmental open data. It provides easy access to datasets that are free to use, reuse, and redistribute. The portal is operated by the Government Reform Unit in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Datasets published by the MHC may be viewed at the Open Data Directive website.
