Organisation information
FOI Publication Scheme
From Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (OCEI)
Published on
Last updated on
In accordance with section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014, the following is the OCEI's FOI Publication Scheme.
The primary function of the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information is to review decisions made by public authorities under the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 to 2014, ( the AIE Regulations. )
The Office of Commissioner for Environmental Information (the Office) was established by article 12(1) of the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007.
The office holder is the Commissioner for Environmental Information (the Commissioner). The Commissioner holds office by virtue of article 12(2) of the AIE Regulations, which provides that the holder of the Office of Information Commissioner (OIC) is also the holder of the Office of Commissioner for Environmental Information.
The statutory role of the Office is set out in the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 to 2014. Please read the Legislative Framework.
These Regulations give effect in Ireland to European Union Directive 2003/4/EC, which guarantees the right to access environmental information held by or for public authorities. The Office is responsible for the efficient operation of the independent appeals mechanism provided by the AIE Regulations.
In relation to Freedom of Information (FOI) responsibilities, the Office is a partially excluded body for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI Act) (as provided in Schedule 1, section 6, Part 1 of that Act).
In the performance of its functions under the AIE Regulations, the Office is excluded from being subject to the FOI Act “other than insofar as it relates to records concerning the general administration of those functions”.
This means that records held by the Office which relate to specific appeals (as opposed to records concerning the general administration of the Office’s functions) are not required by law to be made available to the public.
In accordance with the AIE Regulations, the Commissioner’s functions are to:
- Review the decisions of public authorities on AIE requests
- Affirm, annul or vary the decision concerned
- Require, where appropriate, the public authority to make environmental information available to the applicant
The range of records held in the Office falls within the following broad categories (some of which may overlap):
- Civil/public service guidelines and circulars
- Speeches and presentations by the Commissioner/staff of the office
- Lists of AIE contacts in public authorities
- Notes and minutes of management meetings and associated documentation
- Records relating to the publication of reports, for example, the annual report
- Management of the office’s website
- Management of case reviews
- Statistics on case reviews
- General enquiries and correspondence
Note: Personnel records, accounts records, assets register, and media coverage records are held by the Office of the Ombudsman on behalf of the office.
- Records of communication with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and previously, with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government
- Records of internal policy
Records of communication with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (and previously, with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government) and with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.
Internal procedures records.
- Case records, including records of communications with public authorities, appellants and third parties
- Submissions made by public authorities, appellants and third parties
- Records of legal advice sought and received
- Decisions of the Commissioner
- Other records relating to investigations and reviews, including settlement details, case-closure details, investigations, analysis, and comment by officials of the office
The Commissioner is independent in the performance of his functions. The senior management team consists of the Commissioner, Director General and Senior Investigator.
This Office is committed to best practice structures, processes and systems that support the successful operation of duties in an ethical, accountable, transparent and effective manner. Details of the Office's governance arrangements can be found in its Corporate Governance Framework document, which sets out the systems, principles and processes by which the Office is directed and controlled.
The office contributes to, and is guided by, the wider Strategy Statement of the Office of the Ombudsman (within which the office is located).
Strategy Statement of the Office of the Ombudsman 2019-2021
Download link for
Download
View the file
View
The office publishes annual reports. These are available:
- At the office at 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773
- On our website at: Annual reports
- At the Government Publications Office. This Office provides a Postal Trade Service. Its address is Office of Public Works, Government Publications, 52 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2. Orders are accepted by telephone, email and post. A Call Centre operates Monday to Friday 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm to assist callers and accept order payments by card, cheque or postal order. There is also a dedicated email address, with all queries responded to on the next working day. Tel: 01 647 6834 or email: publications@opw.ie
Article 12(10) of the AIE Regulations provides that the Commissioner shall be assisted by the staff of the OIC and by such other resources as may, from time to time, be available to that office. The structure of the Office consists of senior management and dedicated OCEI investigators. Support is provided by the Support Unit of the Office of the Information Commissioner.
- Commissioner: Ger Deering
- Director General: Elaine Cassidy
- Senior Investigator: Julie O’Leary, Principal Officer
- Investigators: 4 Assistant Principal Officers
Support Staff: The staff of the Support Unit of the Office of the Information Commissioner (which consists of one Higher Executive Officer, two Executive Officers and three Clerical Officers) provides assistance to the office, most notably by carrying out the initial processing of newly received appeals (for validation and formal acceptance).
The Commissioner also serves as the Ombudsman and as the Information Commissioner. He is also an ex officio member of the Standards in Public Office Commission, the Commission for Public Service Appointments, the Referendum Commission and the Constituency Commission. His salary is equivalent to that of a Secretary General III in the Civil Service.
Similarly, the Director General acts as for the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Information Commissioner. The salary is that of an Assistant Secretary in the Civil Service.
The Senior Investigator also serves the Office of the Information Commissioner.
The salary scales of civil servants may be found in the circulars available at the following links:
The office is located with the Office of the Ombudsman at 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773.
Requests for information may be directed to any of the following, as appropriate:
- Post: OCEI, 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773
- Phone: +353-1-639 5689 (please say that your call relates to OCEI and ask to speak to the Support Unit)
- Email: info@ocei.ie
- Opening hours: 9.15am to 5pm, Monday to Friday
- Contact David Nutley, Communications, Office of the Ombudsman
- Phone: 01 639 5610 or 086 023 1420
- Email: david.nutley@ombudsman.ie
The Customer Service Charter sets out our commitments and the service standards you can expect from us.
The staff of the office are civil servants in the Civil Service of the State and are therefore bound by the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour.
The office acts as an appeal body for those dissatisfied with the response of public authorities to requests for environmental information.
Appeals can be made online using our website at Make an Appeal. Alternatively, appeals can be delivered by post to our postal address, or by email to info@ocei.ie
Please note that appeals can only be accepted when they are made in accordance with the eligibility and procedural requirements set out in the AIE Regulations.
As a general rule, appeals must be initiated not later than one month after receipt of the public authority’s internal review decision, or, where no decision is notified, not later than one month after such a decision was required to be notified to the applicant.
The Commissioner has discretion to extend the time for initiating an appeal when he is satisfied that, in the circumstances of the case, it is reasonable to do so.
Article 15(3) of the AIE Regulations provides that (subject to sub-article (4)) a fee of €50 shall be charged for making an appeal to the Commissioner.
Sub-article (4) provides that the fee shall be €15 in the case of the holder of a medical card, or the dependent of a holder of a medical card, or a person other than the applicant who would be incriminated by the disclosure of the environmental information concerned.
Article 15(5) provides that the Commissioner may waive or refund fees in certain circumstances.
Article 13 provides for a right of appeal to the High Court on a point of law arising from a decision by the Commissioner. Such an appeal may be made by a party to the appeal (that is, a party to the appeal to OCEI which led to the Commissioner’s decision) or by any other person affected by the decision. An appeal must be initiated not later than 2 months after notice of the decision was given to the person taking the appeal.
The office is a review body and does not make major policy proposals.
However, the Commissioner occasionally provides comments on relevant policy proposals.
Vote 19 (Office of the Ombudsman) funds the activities of an organisation comprising the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission for Public Service Appointments (Programme A); Standards in Public Office Commission, including the Regulation of Lobbying function (Programme B); and, the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (Programme C).
These offices carry out separate and distinct statutory functions: nonetheless they function as a single amalgamated agency under one Vote and one Accounting Officer and corporate management board which manages the organisation while simultaneously protecting and preserving the statutory independence and functions of each of the constituent parts. Each office has its own complement of staff but the finance, human resources, accommodation and information technology functions are shared between all offices.
At the end of each financial year, each department is required to prepare an account known as the Appropriation Account. The Appropriation Account provides details of the outturn for the year against the amount provided by Dail Eireann. The 2019 Appropriation Account can be accessed below.
Revised Estimates are a detailed version of Budget Day Estimates and include information on spending within individual programmes along with the overall financial allocation for our Office. Revised Estimates also include key high level output metrics, context and impact indicators. These provide information on our expenditure and the impact the expenditure is having.
The Revised Estimates for the Office of the Ombudsman can be accessed below.
Public procurement refers to the process by which public bodies purchase works, goods or services from suppliers which they have selected for this purpose. It ranges from the purchase of routine goods or services to large scale contracts for infrastructural projects and involves a wide and diverse range of contracting authorities.
The following are links to guidance documents for suppliers:
Payments over €20,000
There is a commitment in the Public Service Reform Plan that all purchase orders for €20k or over shall be published online. The Office publishes this information on a quarterly basis.
S.I. No. 426/2014 - European Union (Energy Efficiency) Regulations 2014
Under the terms of these Regulations the energy consumption and performance of all public sector organisations must be reported annually. The secretariat to the Standards in Public Office Commission, the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information and the Commission for Public Service Appointments is provided by the Office of the Ombudsman at its offices in 6 Earlsford Terrace, Dublin 2. This report itemises energy usage across the whole office.
A list of all non-personal FOI requests received by the office since 1 January 2018 can be viewed below.
Under the FOI Act, any person is entitled to apply for access to information which is not otherwise publicly available. In general, a person has a right of:
- Access to records held by the office
- Correction of personal information, relating to oneself, held by the office, where such information is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading
- Access to reasons for decisions made by the office which directly affect oneself
The FOI Act does not cover all records held by the office. The office is a partially excluded body for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI Act) (as provided in Schedule 1, section 6, Part 1 of that Act). This means that records held by the office which relate to specific appeals (as opposed to records concerning the general administration of the office’s functions) are not required by law to be made available to the public.
FOI requests relating to records of the office should be made to:
Anne Greenalgh
Address:
FOI Liaison Officer, Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information, 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773
Email:
Phone number:
Requests should be made in writing and should specify that they are being made under the FOI Act. The form in which the records are sought – for example: photocopies/disk – should be stated in the request. To allow identification of the records sought, requesters should describe the records in as much detail as possible. If possible, a contact number which can be used during office hours should be provided for the purpose of clarifying the details of an FOI request. The staff of the office will assist in the formulation of an FOI request, if necessary.
The office will acknowledge a request under the FOI Act within two weeks. This will include notification that, in the event that the requester is not satisfied with the FOI decision issued, there is a right to request an internal review of the decision. The decision will issue within four weeks.
The FOI Act provides for a right to internal review of decisions of public bodies. An internal review may be requested where an FOI request has been refused or partially granted or where access has been deferred. An internal review can also be requested where the form of access or the level of fees charged is disputed. Refusal of an FOI request is deemed to have occurred where a decision has not issued within four weeks of receipt of the FOI request.
Requests for internal review of decisions of the Office should be made, in writing, to:
Anne Greenalgh
Address:
FOI Liaison Officer, Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information, 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773
Email:
Phone number:
They will ensure that the review is carried out by an official at a higher level than the official who made the original FOI decision. Such a request should be made within four weeks of the original decision. The decision following internal review must issue within three weeks of its receipt.
Annual reports are available:
- At the office at 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773
- On our website at: Annual reports
- At the Government Publications Office. This Office provides a Postal Trade Service. Its address is Office of Public Works, Government Publications, 52 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2. Orders are accepted by telephone, email and post. A Call Centre operates Monday to Friday 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm to assist callers and accept order payments by card, cheque or postal order. There is also a dedicated email address, with all queries responded to on the next working day. Tel: 01 647 6834 or email: publications@opw.ie
News, media releases, speeches and articles are also published from time to time on the office’s website.
The office also publishes decisions made by the Commissioner on its website at Decisions and court judgements on appeals made against the Commissioner’s decisions at Appeals to the Court.
Most requests for information from the office are requests for information about how to make an appeal. Persons making such requests are assisted by Support Unit staff and directed (if appropriate) to where they may obtain further information on the office’s website at Make an Appeal.
A smaller number of requests are for information on how appeals are processed. Once again, persons making such requests are assisted and directed (if appropriate) to where they may obtain further information in the Procedures Manual on the office’s website at OCEI Procedures Manual.
The Office maintains the website. It provides information on the following:
- The Commissioner
- The office
- Environmental information
- Legislation
- The office’s policies and strategies
- How to contact the office
- How to make an appeal
- News and media releases
- Decisions, including a facility to search decisions and to access full decisions
- Appeals to the Courts
- Publications
The website also provides a facility for appealing to the office and paying the appeal fee online.
Updated September 2022