IDA claims client survey is ‘intellectual property’ in FOI wrangle

The agency is fighting to prevent the release of a 2019 survey of its corporate clients in unredacted form

Martin Shanahan, chief executive, IDA Ireland: the agency has argued against releasing the results of a survey of its clients on the basis that their answers were given in confidence

The IDA’s “intellectual property” would be exposed and Ireland’s competitiveness could be affected if a client survey it undertook is released under the Freedom of Information Act, the agency has claimed in the High Court.

The IDA launched legal proceedings against the Information Commissioner last month after a decision that the document in question should be released following a March 2020 freedom of information (FOI) request.

The Commissioner had directed that the survey should be ...