1. Access to Information on the Environment (AIE)
The European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007-2018 (the AIE Regulations) gives legal rights to those seeking to access environmental information held by, or for, a public authority.
The AIE Regulations may be accessed here.
Further information on the AIE regulations to include the Guidelines for Public Authorities and others on implementation of the Regulations published by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications in May 2013 and a Flowchart for AIE Requests is available at the following link: AIE regulations.
2. General Information
Subject to certain exceptions, information relating to the environment held by, or for, daa plc (daa) is required to be made available on request to any person.
The AIE Regulations provide a definition of environmental information and outline the way in which requests for environmental information may be submitted to public authorities. The AIE Regulations also provide for a formal appeal procedure if a person is unhappy with a decision on their request. Further information on the appeal procedure is set out below.
daa publishes environmental information that is typically of most interest to the public through its website and in its Sustainability Reports. Therefore, if you are seeking environmental information from daa, we recommend that you first check whether this information is already available to the public.
3. Accessing information from daa
daa publishes environmental information that is typically of most interest to the public through its website and in its Sustainability Reports. Therefore, if you are seeking environmental information from daa, we recommend that you first check whether this information is already available to the public.
Links to our most popular searches are below:
Airport Noise at Dublin Airport
Managing Traffic Congestion at Dublin Airport
Sustainability at Dublin Airport
Community Affairs and Land Planning at Dublin Airport
Environmental, Social and Governance at Dublin Airport
Sustainability at Cork Airport
4. How do I request environmental information from daa?
An application for access to environmental information from daa (including Dublin and Cork airport) may be submitted by email or by post.
By email: sustainability@daa.ie
By post:
AIE Officer,
daa plc,
THREE The Green,
Dublin Airport Central,
Dublin Airport,
Swords,
Co Dublin
K67 X4X5
If you require further guidance on making a request or further information on the type of environmental information held by daa, please contact daa’s Group Sustainability Team by emailing: sustainability@daa.ie
5. All requests should:
- be made in writing or electronic form,
- state that the request is made under the AIE Regulations,
- state your name, address, and any other relevant contact details,
- state as specifically as possible, the environmental information that you require from daa, and
- if you require access to the environmental information in a particular form or manner, specify the form or manner of access desired.
6. Charges
There is no fee to make a request under AIE Regulations.
There is also no fee for applying to daa for an internal review.
In addition, daa may not charge for access to registers or lists of environmental information or the examination of such information in situ.
However, a public authority may charge a reasonable fee for supplying environmental information requested.
daa has set the following charges:
- search, retrieval, compilation and copying of records: €20 per hour
- photocopy (black and white): €0.04 per sheet
- photocopy (colour): €0.15 per sheet
- CD-Rom: €10
Details of any charges that apply will be advised in the decision letter. The full cost must be paid before the environmental information is released.
The fee for making an appeal to the Commissioner for Environmental Information (as detailed further below) is €50. A reduced fee or €15 applies if you are:
- the holder, or dependent of a holder, of a medical card; or
- a third party appealing daa’s decision to release certain environmental information.
7. Circumstances in which daa may waive charges
Please note that charges may be waived by daa:
- if the record contains only your personal information.
daa may also reduce the fee having regard to the means of the requester (on production of evidence, e.g. medical card).
8. How long will it take to receive environmental information from daa?
daa will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and not later than one month after the date of receipt. This timescale may occasionally have to be extended by a further month (to a maximum of two months from the date of receipt of the request). This may arise if the information requested is complex or voluminous.
It will help us to process your request if you can be as specific as possible about what environmental information you are looking for. If necessary, we will contact you to further clarify your request, and this may extend the time period for processing of the request.
9. What can I do if I am unhappy with a decision on my request
If you consider that your original request for environmental information was refused wholly or partially or was otherwise not properly dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the AIE Regulations, you may request an internal review of that decision, in whole or part. Your internal review request should be made within one month of receipt of daa’s decision, or the date on which daa’s decision was required to be notified to you.
The internal reviewer will be of the same or higher rank that the original daa decision-maker and you will be notified of the internal review decision within one month of receipt of your request for internal review.
If you are unhappy with the internal review decision, you may appeal to the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (OCEI) against daa’s decision. Your request should be made to the OCEI within one month of receiving daa’s internal review decision, or the date on which daa’s internal review decision was required to be notified to you. Further information on submitting an appeal to the OCEI is available here.
Business Hours: AIE office business hours are Monday – Friday: 9am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays).
10. daa’s process for responding to an AIE request
To see how daa responds to an AIE request click here.