THE GOVERNMENT HAS refused to release a report detailing 68 instances of Defence Forces personnel being convicted or currently before the courts on charges.

The report, which was delivered to Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin last month, was requested by The Journal under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014.

It has previously been reported that the report lists 68 cases of Defence Forces personnel who have been convicted of a range of offences or whose cases are before the courts.

The FOI Act grants any person the right to access official records held by Government Departments or other public bodies. It also serves as a means of increasing transparency of public bodies and the decisions they make.

However, the Department has refused to release this report stating that the information contained within was obtained in confidence, relying on Section 35 of the FOI Act.

The section, known as an exemption provision, states that “the record concerned contains information given to an FOI body, in confidence and on the understanding that it would be treated by it as confidential”.

Exemption provisions are used by public bodies to limit the release of documents and information under the FOI Act but must adhere to the guidelines around each exemption set out by the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC).

Some exemptions exist to protect certain records from release, such as those relating to law enforcement, public safety or the international relations of the State.

Cabinet records, for example, are exempt from release for a period of five years to protect the confidentially of meetings of Government and allow cabinet members to speak freely.

The OIC can also compel public bodies to release documents previously refused if it finds that the exemption provision used was not relevant or interpreted inaccurately.

The Department also refused the request on the basis that it contained personal information, invoking Section 37 of the FOI Act, which states that “a head shall refuse to grant an FOI request if, in the opinion of the head, access to the record concerned would involve the disclosure of personal information”.

When relying on these exemptions, the Department must consider the public interest in releasing the documents, however, it has said “there is no exceptional circumstance in this particular case that would warrant [the] release of records”.

A spokesperson for the Department of Defence said in a statement “the Tánaiste, after consultation with the Attorney General, announced the appointment of Senior Counsel Peter Ward on June 28th to examine the administration of cases involving Defence Forces personnel charged or convicted of criminal offences”.

“The Department has no further comment to make in relation to this matter while this work continues”, the statement continued.

Having received the report last month, the Tánaiste said that he would seek advice from the Attorney General on how the information can be appropriately published.

He later told the Dáil that five of the 68 cases related to sexual assault and that six are related to domestic violence.

Twenty-four of the cases relate to physical assaults, but no breakdown was provided of how many of these constituted gender-based violence.

The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy said this week that the details of how many of the 68 cases relate to gender-based violence are known, but he refused to disclose the information, citing its sensitivity.

“The information around the particular numbers is sensitive information, we haven’t given out the numbers,” Clancy said.

He also stated that “the 68 number is a fluid number… as people go through the courts and things happen in the courts and we become aware of them the figure will change”.

It’s understood that two-thirds of the 68 cases are still before the courts.