Wexford): The Access to Information on the Environment Regulations, 1993, give full effect of the provisions of the EC Directive on the freedom of access to information on the environment. They represent a major initiative in giving the public important new rights to obtain information relating to the environment held by Irish public authorities. For the first time, they establish the right to obtain information relating to any aspect of the environment held by public authorities, without having to prove an interest, and set out the procedures for accessing such information. Information is now required to be made available on a uniform statutory basis, instead of the ad hoc basis which applied to date.
Access to Information on the Environment Regulations, 1993: Statements.
This is good.
(Wexford): I feel strongly that information should have the widest possible availability. The regulations we have made are a first, formal step and although it may be said that they could go further, they are demanding and important because they embody a new concept for public administration. Public authorities need to gain experience in implementing them and I am encouraging a positive and open approach towards their implementation.
While the regulations formalise in national law the processes associated with the directive, they also complement a wide range of statutory and voluntary measures promoted by the Government in recent years to increase the availability of information and encourage quality and consistency in this area. National legislative and administrative systems for physical planning and environmental control contain provisions for public access to environmental information. Information is made available in a generally standard and comparable manner through systems of registers, for example, registers of air and water pollution licences, and planning applications, which, from the public point of view, are a source of consistent and readily understood data and, from an administrative point of view, are well-established and practical.
The procedures put in place to implement the 1985 Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment — EIA — have also, of course, brought about enhanced openness on environmental issues.
And when the Environmental Protection Agency arrives, they must.
(Wexford): We shall have it shortly in the Deputy's backyard, down in Johnstown Castle.
We await it with bated breath.
(Wexford): A developer seeking development consent for a project covered by the EIA procedures has to prepare an environmental impact statement setting out the project's likely effects on the environment. This statement has to be made available for inspection and purchase by members of the public and interested bodies who are then entitled to put their views to the authority making the development consent decision, which has an express legal duty to take account of them.
The evidence to date suggests that Ireland requires a comparatively high proportion of development proposals to undergo EIA. Research by the Environmental Research Unit of my Department shows that over 280 environmental impact studies have been prepared to date. This is clear evidence of our commitment to transparency and extensive public information on the environmental implications of development.
Other opportunities to extend statutory access to information have also been availed of. In particular, the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992, contains the most comprehensive set of obligations ever imposed on any organisation to make information available on the quality of the environment. In addition to section 110 of that Act — under which these regulations are made — there are at least 18 other sections in that Act where there is specific provision for publication of information and, indeed, the duty in most cases is mandatory rather than discretionary. Of particular note are the requirements to establish an environmental quality data base with public access to the contents — section 69 — and the requirement to provide public access to monitoring carried out under the provisions of the Act. The new regulations do not affect these existing statutory provisions and, in fact, are an addition to them.
Outside the framework of statutory requirements, national and local authorities actively disseminate data on the state of the environment or make it available to interested parties. The Environmental Information Service — ENFO — established in 1990, provides an extensive data base and library on the environment and is a source of easily accessible, appealing and authoritative information. ENFO is now well advanced in the provision of a national network for the distribution of educational awareness material on the environment through the public county library service.
I should like to see the county library service being more fully utilised by local authorities as local information centres, to provide the public with the full range of reports and information generated by the authorities and to participate more actively in the promotion of local educational, awareness and cultural activities. I will be exploring the opportunities here — which are already available and waiting to be exploited — with the local authorities.
My Department has developed a policy of increasing environmental publications and reports. Reports have been published on the state of the environment and on specific aspects of the environment. Detailed data on surface water quality are contained in the report Water Quality in Ireland 1987-1990 recently published by the Environmental Research Unit. Ireland also has one of the most informative drinking water quality publications in the European Community. Extensive data, generated by local authority monitoring programmes, has been published, again by the Environmental Research Unit, for 1989 and 1990. A 1991 report, incorporating a review of trends over the three years, 1989-91 will be published this year. As a more general digest of up to date information, my Department regularly publishes an Environment Bulletin detailing developments in environmental protection at local, national and international level.
New developments at EC level, which will increase awareness as well as promoting better quality information, include the Eco-labelling scheme for products and the Eco-management and auditing scheme. While these are voluntary, they have particular significance for the public in assisting the identification of environmentally friendly products and companies. I would like to see Irish companies taking a lead in participating in such initiatives; as well as informing the public, they have the potential to promote Ireland's green image in a well defined and focussed manner. I would like to see the private, as well as the public sector taking a more pro-active role in the publication of data on environmental aspects of its operations and activities.
I should like to deal now with some aspects of the regulations. The public authorities to which they apply are defined in the Directive as any public administration at national, regional or local level with responsibilities for the environment and possessing information relating to the environment, with the exception of bodies acting in a judicial or legislative capacity. In making the regulations we were conscious that it would not be practical to formulate a comprehensive list of organisations to which the regulations would apply, given the numbers involved.
Public authorities must have public administration functions and responsibilities and possess information relating to the environment. The definition includes persons or bodies under the control of a public authority holding environmental information. It is quite clear that the regulations apply to a number of Government Departments, local authorities, the National Radiological Protection Institute, the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health, the Marine Institute, regional and central fisheries boards and the soon to be established Environmental Protection Agency. Information held in connection with, or for the purposes of, any judicial or legislative function, including processing of determinations by Ministers and other public authorities such as An Bord Pleanála is excluded from the scope of the Directive and regulations.
My Department has produced guidance notes for the assistance of public authorities in implementing the regulations. This publication is freely available to the public. We have also produced a shorter public information leaflet. The guidance notes have placed considerable emphasis on a climate of openness in responding to requests under the regulations. Public authorities are advised that information should be refused only where there are significant and substantial grounds for refusal.
I am urging public authorities, in processing requests, to respond positively and promptly, and to offer assistance to members of the public so that requests for information are clear, specific and understandable. Public authorities are advised not to refuse information without implementing an internal review procedure. This will ensure that refusals are kept to a minimum and made only in accordance with justified grounds.
Under the regulations the bulk of circumstances under which information may be refused are discretionary. "Commercial and industrial confidentiality" is one discretionary ground which has caused some misgivings particularly among individuals and organisations concerned with environmental pollution from industry. The notes make it quite clear that a request by any person or company for information to be treated as confidential does not automatically classify it as such. The fact that a release of information relating to a pollution incident might damage the reputation of a company is not an adequate reason for withholding this information. It would also be very difficult to cite commercial/industrial confidentiality as a ground for refusing to make available information on the composition of emissions, including volumes, to the environment.
In dealing with another discretionary ground for refusal, that is "material still in the course of completion" the guidance notes come out strongly in favour of availability. Ongoing monitoring of environmental emissions could not be considered as unfinished, and public authorities should arrange for the periodic publication or release of such results.
In keeping with the bias towards making information available, public authorities are required, under Article 7, to separate from material which is being refused information which is not covered by the grounds for refusal. Where it is not practicable to separate out material public authorities are advised to consult with the applicant on some other mutually acceptable solution.
While the regulations enable public authorities to charge for the supply of information it is not the intention that this provision should lead to the imposition of charges for information that might have been freely provided in the past. There should be a presumption in favour of providing information freely as long as costs are not significant.
A decision to refuse information is not the end of the road for the applicant. In the first instance it is open to a person to ask the public authority to reconsider its decision. If the public authority concerned — for example, Government Departments, local authorities and health boards — come within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman Act, 1980, the decision may be reviewed by the Ombudsman. In all cases the applicant may seek a judicial review by the courts of a refusal by a public authority to make information available. The regulations are introduced against a backdrop of changing attitudes to the role of information in relation to environmental protection and the increased efforts in recent years by public authorities to make more information freely available.
In many cases the regulations in practice give statutory effect to an existing open door policy. While this has been operated by some public authorities, in others changes in practices will be required. The regulations must be given a chance to work. I would ask for some time to see the whole process at work, but the way forward is clear: information is a powerful instrument of environment policy and it must be given full scope to develop as such in the Irish situation.