IDA goes to court to stop release of Drogheda site purchase details

IDA Ireland has launched High Court proceedings against the Information Commissioner in a bid to stop the release of details about a site it bought in Drogheda for foreign direct investment (FDI), including the price paid.

The agency initiated the court action on Thursday, in a case that arises from a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the journalist Ken Foxe in June 2021. He had sought copies of any valuation reports, cost benefit analysis or business case associated with the purchase of the site.

The State’s inward investment agency did release some details, but refused to issue the full report from a property consultancy firm it had hired to advise on the purchase and to suggest a valuation.

IDA Ireland also refused to publish all the records relating to an internal meeting of its property committee, including the date it happened, information about its land bank, the possible future use for the Drogheda site, or the engagements it had with the landowner.

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In its decision, the IDA argued that releasing the information could affect negotiations with other landowners, and said it was actively pursuing acquisition opportunities in key locations where existing land banks had diminished due to FDI. The locations involved were “highly confidential and sensitive”.

The agency also claimed that releasing the information would give competitors an insight into its negotiating tactics, and how it identifies appropriate land for investment. The IDA pointed out that while it is a semi-State body, it has to compete against the private sector when buying land, and also against industrial agencies in other jurisdictions which are also trying to attract FDI.

Mr Foxe appealed the case to the Office of the Information Commissioner, which ruled that some of the records should be released. In the decision Stephen Rafferty, a senior investigator in the office, said he did not accept the IDA’s argument that third parties would be reluctant, or might refuse, to negotiate with the agency in relation to the acquisition of land if some details were released after sales. Nor did he accept that the release of the information would undermine the IDA in other ongoing or future negotiations.

Mr Rafferty did rule that it would be in the public interest to withhold some details until other such talks were finished. “However, once the negotiations in question are completed, it seems to me the balance of the public interest would shift in favour of release, particularly in respect of the price paid for the site.”

A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner said it had yet to review the legal papers, and the case was not listed for mention in the High Court until October 9th. A spokesperson for IDA Ireland said: “As there are legal proceedings ongoing, IDA Ireland isn’t in a position at this time to provide any comment.”

This is the second time in two years the agency has taken the Information Commissioner to the High Court. In 2021 it appealed against a decision to release a 100-page client survey to Mr Foxe. The IDA refused to release most of the report, partly on the basis that it was commercially sensitive.

Last December the Information Commissioner agreed to revoke its decision and the case was sent back for fresh consideration by a different official in their office.

In June 2021 the IDA told local media that it had acquired a 39-acre site in the Mell area of Drogheda as part of its long-term strategic plan to help Louth compete for FDI. It also purchased a site at Killally in Dundalk.