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Access to Information on the Environment

Access to Information on the Environment (AIE)

Under the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 (as amended), you have the right to obtain certain environmental information from the Kildare Education Centre. The AIE legislation sets out the procedures for public access to information relating to the environment held by public bodies and other groups that fall under this legislation. To make a request under AIE legislation, please email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or in writing send it to: FOI Officer, Kildare Education Centre, Friary Road, Kildare Town, Co Kildare, Ireland.

In making your request, please:

  • Specify that you are making the request under AIE legislation and clearly state the environmental information that you are requesting
  • Try to provide as much detail as possible to enable us to process your request efficiently
  • Include your return address

You will receive a response within one month from the date on which the request is received by Kildare Education Centre.

Disclaimer/Note: Please be advised that AIE requests may be refused on certain mandatory grounds (personal information/third party information) or discretionary grounds (commercial confidentiality etc).

Charges: There is no initial fee for making and AIE request. The Regulations do, however, provide that a public body may charge a reasonable fee for search and retrieval and the copying of records when it makes available environmental information in accordance with the Regulations. This fee will be calculated upon receipt of a request and is dependent on the volume of work involved in compiling information where it has not been previously available in an accessible format. This fee has been set as €20.95 per hour. If requesters require hard copies there may be a fee of 4c per sheet depending on the volume of information contained in the request and this will be advised in the final decision letter. A fee of €10.16 may be applied for a CD-ROM containing copy documents.

Where the estimated cost of supplying information on the environment is likely to exceed 100 euro, a deposit of at least 20% of the total amount will be required. In such cases, the requester will be advised in writing of the position and will be provided with an opportunity to review or amend his/her request. The process will not commence until payment of deposit has been received by the Kildare Education Centre. It should also be noted that the date for the final decision on the AIE request (which is normally within one month of receipt by the Kildare Education Centre of the request) will be determined by reference to the date of receipt of the deposit payment.

Fees will be waived where the cost is estimated at less than €10.00 or where the cost of collecting and accounting for the fee would exceed the amount of the fee itself. Where requesters are in a position to view the required documents on site at Kildare Education Centre there will be no charge for accessing these records, however this is separate to the charge noted above.  

Appeals: If you would like to appeal a decision made by Kildare Education Centre’s FOI Unit, you can do so by sending a request in writing asking for an internal review of the decision. Please address your review request to: FOI Officer, Kildare Education Centre, Friary Road, Kildare Town, Co Kildare, Ireland.

If after the internal review, you are unsatisfied with the decision and would like to make a complaint or appeal the decision again, you can do so by contacting the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (“CEI”) at:

Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information,
18 Lower Leeson Street,
Dublin 2.
Tel: 01- 6395689.

The AIE Regulations provide that a fee of €150 must be charged for an appeal to the Commissioner for Environmental Information. However, provision is also made for a reduced appeal fee of €50 for medical card holders and their dependants.You must appeal or make a complaint to the CEI within one month of getting the reviewed decision from Kildare Education Centre.

AIE, Environment, Access to Information on the Environment

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