(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every person has a right to and shall, on request therefor, be offered access to any record held by a public body and the right so conferred is referred to in this Act as the right of access.
(2) It shall be the duty of a public body to give reasonable assistance to a person who is seeking a record under this Act -
(a) in relation to the making of the request under section 7 for access to the record, and
(b) if the person has a disability, so as to facilitate the exercise by the person of his or her rights under this Act.
(3) The Minister shall, after consultation with such other (if any) Ministers of the Government as he or she considers appropriate, draw up and publish to public bodies guidelines in relation to compliance by public bodies with subsection (2)(b), and public bodies shall have regard to any such guidelines.
(4) The records referred to in subsection (1) are records created after the commencement of this Act and -