The new Freedom of Information Act was signed into law by President Michael D Higgins today.
The new law extends the scope of FOI legislation to cover limited areas of An Garda Síochana as well as public financial bodies such as NTMA, NAMA and the National Pension Reserve Fund.
Parts of the work of the Central Bank as well as the refugee agencies will also be covered by the new law.
The Freedom of Information Act 2014 reverses many of the restrictions imposed when the previous act was brought in by the Fianna Fáil / Progressive Democrats coalition.
It eliminates up front application fees when making FOI applications which were introduced in the older Act.
However, reduced charges still apply for appeals.
Bodies which were subject to the previous legislation are now subject to the new act.
However, Minister for Public Enterprise and Reform, Brendan Howlin, has between six and 12 months to extend the act to other organisations like the gardaí and NAMA.
