Fermanagh & Omagh District Council

The complainant requested from Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (the Council) information relating to Dog Breeding Licences. The Council considered the information exempt from disclosure and cited section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA to the withheld information.
The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council was not entitled to withhold the information under section 43(2) of FOIA, and whilst the exemption is engaged, the public interest favous disclosing the information.
The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation;
• Disclose the most recent inspection reports for both the licence holders in question, which are specified in part 3 of the request.
The Council must take these steps within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.