Health Research Board

27. Freedom of Information / Data Protection

27.1 The HRB may be required to disclose information provided to it in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003 (“the Acts”).  Should the Host Institution and/or the Principal Investigator consider that any information supplied to the HRB is confidential and/or commercially sensitive it shall, at the time of providing the information, identify such information and give reasons for its confidentiality and/or commercial sensitivity.  The HRB may, if it is considers it appropriate, consult with the Host Institution and/or the Principal Investigator prior to releasing or consenting to the release of such information. 

27.2.1 The HRB shall be entitled to use information provided to it in the Application for the purpose of processing the Application, the award (if any) of the Grant on foot of the Application, the payment of the Grant, and reviews of the Grant Funded Activities including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing for the purpose of:-

27.2.1.1 Registration of the Application;

27.2.1.2 Operation of Grant processing and management information systems; 

27.2.1.3 Preparation of material for use by referees and peer review panels; 

27.2.1.4 Administration, investigation and review of the Grant Application;

27.2.1.5 Sharing information furnished in the Application on a strictly confidential basis with other funding organisations;

27.2.1.6 Statistical analysis in relation to the evaluation of research and the study of trends; 

27.2.1.7 Policy and strategy studies; 

27.2.1.8 Meeting the HRB’s obligations for public accountability and dissemination of information;

27.2.1.9 Posting of details of the Grant Funded Activities on the HRB website and other publicly available databases and in reports, documents and mailing lists. 

27.2.1.10 Furnishing the details and information referred to in clauses 27.2.1 and 27.2.1.1 to 27.2.1.9 above to UK PubMed Central.