Access to Information No. 31 of 2016 9. Processing of application (1) Subject to section 10, a public officer shall make a decision on an application as soon as possible, but in any event, within twenty one days of receipt of the application (2) Where the information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person, the information officer shall provide the information within forty-eight hours of the receipt of the application. (3) The information officer to whom a request is made under subsection (2) may extend the period for response on a single occasion for a period of not more than fourteen days if— (a) the request is for a large amount of information or requires a search through a large amount of information and meeting the stipulated time would unreasonably interfere with the activities of the information holder; or (b) consultations are necessary so as to comply with the request and the consultations cannot be reasonably completed within the stipulated time. (4) As soon as the information access officer has made a decision as to whether to provide access to information, he or she shall immediately communicate the decision to the requester, indicating— (a) whether or not the public entity or private body holds the information sought; (b) whether the request for information is approved: (c) if the request is declined the reasons for making that decision, including the basis for deciding that the information sought is exempt, unless the reasons themselves would be exempt information; and (d) if the request is declined, a statement about how the requester may appeal to the Commission"; (5) A public officer referred to in subsection (1) may seek the assistance of any other public officer as the first mentioned public officer considers necessary for the proper discharge of his or her duties and such other public officer shall render the required assistance. (6) Where the applicant does not receive a response to an application within the period stated in subsection (1), the application shall be deemed to have been rejected. 10. Transfer of application (1) An information access officer may, not later than five days from the date of receipt of an application, transfer the application or any relevant part of it, to another public entity, if the information requested is held by that other public entity. (2) Where an application is transferred under subsection (1), an information access officer shall inform the applicant immediately but in any event not later than seven days from the date of receipt of the application, about such transfer. (3) A public entity to which an application is referred by an information access officer under subsection (1) shall make a decision on the application within twentyone days from the date that the application was first made.