The European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 to 2014 (S.I. No. 133 of 2007, S.I. No. 662 of 2011 and S.I. No. 615 of 2014) (the AIE Regulations), give legal rights to persons seeking to access information on the environment from public authorities.
The AIE Regulations were introduced in Ireland to give effect to Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on Public Access to Environmental Information (the AIE Directive). This Directive repealed Council Directive 90/313/EEC which was the previous EU instrument for providing access to environmental information. The AIE Directive was adopted by the EU to give effect to the Access to Information pillar of the 1998 UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus Convention).
Under the AIE Regulations, environmental information held by or for a public authority must, subject to certain exceptions, be made available on request. The AIE Regulations also oblige public authorities to be proactive in disseminating environmental information to the public.
The AIE Regulations provide a definition of environmental information, outline the manner in which requests for information may be submitted to public authorities and the manner in which public authorities are required to deal with requests e.g. time for response. The regulations also provide for a formal appeals procedure if a person is dissatisfied with a decision on a request.
Access to Information on the Enviornment (AIE) FAQs
The AIE Regulations broadly define “public authorities” to encompass all bodies that have a role in public administration and that possess environmental information.
The Minister is required to publish an indicative list of public authorities that are subject to the AIE Regulations.
These include:
- Government Departments
- Local Authorities
- Non-Commercial State Agencies
- Commercial State Agencies
- Regulatory Bodies.
The definition of ‘environmental information’, as set out in the AIE Regulations determines what information comes within the remit of the AIE Regulations. This definition includes information in written, visual, aural, electronic or any other material form on:
- The state of the elements of the environment e.g. air, water, soil, land, landscape and biological diversity,
- Factors affecting or likely to affect, the elements of the environment, e.g. energy, noise, radiation, waste and other releases into the environment,
- Measures designed to protect the elements of the environment e.g. policies, legislation, plans, programs and environmental agreements,
- Reports on the implementation of environmental legislation,
- Analyses and assumptions used within the framework of measures designed to protect the environment,
- The state of human health and safety, including the contamination of the food chain, where relevant, conditions of human life, cultural sights and built structures in as much as they may be affected by the elements of the environment.
When making a request for information under the AIE Regulations, you are required to:
- State that the application is being made under the AIE Regulations and submit it in writing or electronic form,
- Provide your contact details State, in terms that are as specific as possible, the environmental information required, and
- If you require the information in a specific format or manner of access, you should specify this in your request.
Requests made to Donegal Country Council are required to be submitted in writing to:
Eileen Harkin,
Access to Information on the Environment Liasion Officer,
Donegal County Council,
The County House,
Lifford,
Co. Donegal
Email: foi@donegalcoco.ie
Phone: 074 91 53900
The regulations allow public authority to charge a reasonable fee for the cost of supplying the environmental information; Article 15is the relevant provision. As per Circular AIE/2/2017, a public authority may charge for information supplied under the regulations. This charge may include not only postal and photocopying costs, but also to costs attributable to the time spent by staff on answering an individual request for information, which includes the time spent on searching for the information and putting it in the form required.
- A charge of €0.04 per sheet for photocopying information,
- A charge of €10.00 for the provision of information on CD-ROM,
- A charge of €20.00 per hour for costs attributable to the time spent by staff on answering an individual request for information, time spent on searching for the information and putting it in the form required.
Any other charges levied by Donegal County Council e.g., Planning Files, Fire Certs, etc.
Limited means
If you are advised of a charge and it is beyond your means, it is open to you to request that we reduce or waive the fee. If you wish to pursue this option, we will require some evidence that your means are limited, for example, evidence that you hold a current medical card or are in receipt of a social welfare benefit.
In general, Donegal County Council must respond to an AIE request within one month of receipt. Where, due to the complexity or volume of information requested, Donegal County Council is unable to respond within the one-month period, it is required to write to the applicant within the month, indicating when a response will be issued. This date should not be more than two months from receipt of the original request.
Where the information requested is not held by or for Donegal County Council, it should inform the applicant. If Donegal County Council knows the information requested is being held by another public authority, it should transfer the request to that authority and inform the applicant accordingly. Alternatively, it should advise the applicant as to which public authority the request should be directed.
There are several mandatory grounds, under the AIE Regulations, where Donegal County Council must refuse access to information. These include circumstances where disclosure of information would adversely affect:
- The confidentiality of personal information relating to a person who has not consented to the disclosure of the information,
- The interests of any person who voluntarily supplied the information requested unless that person has consented to the release of that information,
- The protection of the environment to which that information relates, or
- The confidentiality of the proceedings of public authorities.
The AIE Regulations also provide discretionary grounds for refusing access to information. These include circumstances where disclosure of information would adversely affect:
- International relations, national defence or public security,
- The course of justice,
- Commercial or industrial confidentiality, or
- Intellectual property rights.
Donegal County Council may also refuse to make environmental information available where the request is:
- Manifestly unreasonable having regard to the volume or range of information sought,
- Remains formulated in too general a manner,
- Contains material currently being worked on, or unfinished documents or data, or
- Concerning internal communications of public authorities, considering the public interest served by the disclosure.
If you are dissatisfied with a decision made on your request, you have a right, under the AIE Regulations, to seek an internal review of the decision. An internal review must be requested within one month of receipt of the original decision (Donegal County Council may extend this period but is not required to do so). You may also request an internal review if you have not received a response within the appropriate timeframe. There is no charge for applying for an internal review to Donegal County Council.
A request for an internal review should be submitted in writing to:
Eileen Harkin,
Access to Information on the Environment Liasion Officer,
Donegal County Council,
The County House,
Lifford,
Co. Donegal
Email: foi@donegalcoco.ie
Phone: 074 9153900
An internal review involves a complete reconsideration of the matter by a Donegal County Council staff member unconnected to the original decision who may affirm, vary or annul this decision. The decision on the internal review, the reason for the decision and details in relation to your right to appeal against this decision will be issued to you within one month of the date of receipt of the request for the review.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you can appeal in writing to the Commissioner for Environmental Information, 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2 or electronically to info@ocei.ie. You must appeal within one month of receiving the decision on the internal review from Donegal County Council. However, the Commissioner may extend this time limit in individual cases. It costs €50 to appeal the decision of an internal review to the Commissioner for Environmental Information. However, provision is made for a reduced appeal fee of €15 for medical card holders and their dependents and for people, not party to the original request for access to information, who are appealing a decision to release information which they believe will affect them.
For further assistance on Access to Information on the Environment contact the Access to Information on the Environment Officer at 0749172456 or e-mail foi@donegalcoco.ie