OurRef: — Fol/Req/08/029 ‘Mr. Fionnan Sheahan Political Editor Irish Independent Political Correspondents Room Leinster House Kildare St Dublin 2 9 June 2008 Dear Mr. Sheahan, refer further to your request for information, made under the terms of the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003, in which you Fequested a copy of the briefing document Prepared for the new Minister of Foreign A fais, oe-,h—r—é‘<(rwi mS Tequest, subject to certain deletions of text in accordance with the following provisions in the Freedom of Information Acts: Section 19 of the Act provides that records shall not be released where the records contain information (including advice) for a member of the Government for use primarily for the Purpose of the transaction of any business of Government, including communications in relation to a matter which is under consideration by the Government. Section 20 - provides that access to a record relating to the deliberative processes of a public body may be refused Section 21 - provides that records may be protected where disclosure could harm certain operations of a public body, i.e. information which could: * prejudice the effectiveness of test, audit, control, examination or investigative functions of a public body «pave a significant adverse effect on the performance of functions relating to management, including industrial relations and personnel management, or * disclose negotiating positions of Government or state agencies Section 24 - provides that information may be withheld where its disclosure could reasonablybe expected to adversely affect (inter alia) defence, security, intemational relations and ‘matters relating to Northern Ireland, Please find attached a copy of the document in question making an appeal, please quote the above reference number and include a fee of €75 for Orde ne {he appeal. Payment should be made by Way of bank draft, money order, postal order or cheque, made payable to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Yours sincerely, Julie Connell Fol Officer Tel: 01 - 4082277 E-mail: Julie.Connell@dfa.ie