The office of Minister for Equality Roderic O’Gorman has received an official rebuke for breaking Freedom of Information (FOI) rules when it blocked a request for Government files on the family and care referendums.

Mr O’Gorman, now leader of the Greens, was chief sponsor of two referendums that were rejected overwhelmingly by the electorate in March.

The refusal to acknowledge or reply to an application from The Irish Times and other media outlets such as Gript for referendum papers came as FOI files from other departments called into question the Minister’s claims about the proposed amendments.

Even though Ministers claimed the family referendum proposal had no tax implications, Revenue officials warned of potential tax law changes.

Although Mr O’Gorman claimed the proposals would have no “legal impact” on immigration law, justice officials warned the referendums risked creating prolonged “legal uncertainty” over migration.

Now a binding ruling from the Office of the Information Commissioner has compelled the Department of Equality to consider afresh the news organisation’s FOI application, saying the original decision to refuse access to the files was “not justified”.