Requests involving use of computers, etc

(1) Where, (a) a request (including a request of the kind described in section 12 (3) of this Act, is duly made to a Ministry or prescribed authority; (b) it appears from the request that the desire of the applicant is for information that is not available in discrete form in documents of the Ministry or prescribed authority; and (c) the Ministry or prescribed authority could produce a written document containing the information in discrete form by, (i) the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the Ministry or prescribed authority for retrieving or collating stored information; or 16 (ii) the making of a transcript from a sound recording held in the Ministry or prescribed authority, the Ministry or prescribed authority shall deal with the request as if it were a request for access to a written document so produced and containing that information and, for that purpose, this Act applies as if the Ministry or prescribed authority had such a document in its possession. (2) A Ministry or prescribed authority is not required to comply with subsection (1) of this section, if compliance would interfere unreasonably with the operations of the Ministry or prescribed authority.