European Communities Act, 1972 (Access To Information on The Environment) Regulations, 1998
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities Act, 1972 (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations, 1998.
2 Commencement
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paragraphs: These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of May, 1998.
3 Revocation and Transitional Provisions
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paragraphs: (1) The Access to Information on the Environment Regulations, 1996 ( S.I. No. 185 of 1996 ) are hereby revoked.
4 Interpretation
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paragraphs: (1) In these Regulations—
(a) a reference to an article is a reference to an article of these Regulations,
(b) a reference to a sub-article or paragraph is a reference to the sub-article or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless there is an indication that a reference to some other provision is intended.
(a) (i) a Minister of the Government,
(ii) the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland,
(iii) a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941 ,
(iv) a harbour authority within the meaning of the Harbours Act, 1946 ,
(v) a health board established under the Health Act, 1970 ,
(vi) a board or other body established by or under statute,
(vii) a company in which all the shares are held by, or on behalf of, or by directors appointed by, a Minister of the Government, or
(viii) a company in which all the shares are held by a board, company, or other body referred to in paragraph (vi) or (vii) of this definition,
having public administration functions and responsibilities, and possessing information relating to the environment; and
(b) any person or body, other than a public authority as defined in paragraph (a), which is under the control of such a public authority and has public responsibilities for the environment and possesses information relating to the environment.
5 Scope
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paragraphs: (1) These Regulations apply to information relating to the environment other than—
(a) information held in connection with or for the purposes of any judicial or legislative function, or
(b) subject to sub-article (2), information which, under any statutory provision apart from these Regulations, is required to be made available, whether for inspection or otherwise, to persons generally.
section 5 of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1992 and any regulations made thereunder,
sections 10 and 31 of the Air Pollution Act, 1987 and any regulations made thereunder, and
sections 6 and 87 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 and any regulations made thereunder,
information on the environment held by public authorities shall be made available in accordance with article 6.
6 Duty to provide information
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paragraphs: (1) A public authority shall, notwithstanding any other statutory provision and subject only to the conditions and exceptions provided for in these Regulations, make available any information relating to the environment to which these Regulations apply to any person who requests it.
(a) be made in writing,
(b) state the name and address of the person making the request, and
(c) state, in terms which are as specific as possible, the information which is the subject of the request.
7 Mandatory grounds for refusal of information
(a) personal information held in relation to an individual who has not given consent to the disclosure of the information, or
(b) material supplied to the public authority by a third party where that third party was not, or is not capable of being put, under a legal obligation to supply the material,
8 Discretionary grounds for refusal of information
(a) international relations, national defence or public security,
(b) matters which are sub judice, or which are under inquiry (including disciplinary inquiries), or which are the subject of preliminary investigation proceedings, or
(c) commercial or industrial confidentiality, or intellectual property, or where the information requested relates to internal communications of the public authority or to material which is still in the course of completion.
9 Separation of information
10 Timescale for response to request for information
11 Charges
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paragraphs: A public authority may make a charge for the making available of information in accordance with article 6, provided always that such charge shall not exceed an amount which is reasonable having regard to the cost of making available the information.
Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government.