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What we do - OCEI
From Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (OCEI)
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The Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (OCEI) is an independent statutory office.
In addition to the Commissioner and Director General, we have a team of staff which is led by a Senior Investigator.
Support is provided by the Support Unit of the Office of the Information Commissioner, which deals with enquiries and the initial processing of new appeals. Further support comes from the shared services provided by the Office of the Ombudsman (for example, human resource management and information and communications technology support).
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We review the decisions made by public authorities on AIE requests.
In most cases, the decision that we review is the public authority's internal review decision, that is the public authority's second decision on a request. If the public authority has failed to give notice of its internal review decision within the time allowed, the public authority is deemed by the law to have made a second decision "affirming" its first decision. In such cases, it is this "second decision" which we review, although it might be for all intents and purposes the same as the first decision.
The Commissioner makes decisions on each appeal unless the case is withdrawn, settled or discontinued. His decisions are published and are legally binding, although they may be appealed to the High Court on points of law.
We have no role in assisting or advising members of the public, companies or public authorities in making or processing requests for access to environmental information.
We have no role in assessing how public authorities collect, maintain and disseminate environmental information.
Even when the Commissioner decides that refusal of a request was not justified, we do not release the information. If the Commissioner decides that it would be appropriate for a public authority to release information, he will state in his decision that he requires it to do so. But OCEI does not release the information.
We do not offer legal advice.
In reviewing decisions we follow a three-step process: validation, investigation, review.
1. When we receive an appeal we check that it is valid. If it is, it is allocated to the next available investigator.
2. The investigator examines the case and submits the file to the Commissioner along with a recommendation.
3. The Commissioner conducts his review and the parties are notified of his decision.
When we receive an appeal, we check that it is valid under the legislation. If it is, we ask the public authority for copies of the withheld information, where appropriate. At this stage all parties are invited to make final submissions in support of their position.
We assign each case to the next available investigator. He or she may contact the parties to ask for any clarifications which they consider necessary.
They might also seek submissions or request further information.
If a new material issue is raised (for example, an exception to release that had not been relied upon in the public authority's decisions), the parties are normally invited to comment on this. Our investigators are office-based: they do not normally go into the field to check claims or to meet people associated with a case. The investigator's job is to gather the information necessary, analyse the facts and the legal provisions, and prepare a recommendation for the Commissioner. Investigators normally communicate with the parties by email, telephone or post. Case investigators report to a Senior Investigator, who in turn reports to the Commissioner.
In some cases appeals are withdrawn, settled or discontinued without the need for the Commissioner to make a decision. In all other cases the Senior Investigator submits the file to the Commissioner.
The Commissioner considers the case-file, makes a formal written decision, and arranges for the parties to be notified. In his decision, he may either affirm, vary or annul the public authority's decision. Where appropriate, he may require the public authority to make available environmental information to the appellant.
In some cases the Commissioner decides that a public authority should re-process a request or part of it (or process a request for the first time, if it failed to do so in the first place).
Whatever the outcome, OCEI never releases the requested information. If it is to be released, it must be released by the public authority.
For more information, see our Procedures Manual and our Strategy Statement.
Strategy Statement of the Office of the Ombudsman 2022-2025
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- It is not formal or adversarial: OCEI is not a court
- We do not normally give a copy of one party's submission to the other party. In a small number of cases we exchange submissions, but only with the consent of the parties who made the submissions
- There is no oral hearing
- When the file is ready, it is sent to a senior investigator. When the senior investigator is satisfied that the file is fully complete, it is put before the Commissioner. He then conducts his review and makes his decision
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If you have a comments or complaint about the accessibility of this website, please email us at AccessOfficer@ombudsman.ie
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Certain ‘in-house’ services or facilities are jointly shared with the Office of the Ombudsman. Queries and complaints about accessibility are dealt with by our Access Officer, whose role is to provide or arrange for and coordinate assistance and guidance to persons with disabilities accessing the services we provide. Our Access Officer can be contacted by email at accessofficer@ombudsman.ie or by telephone at 01 639 5625.
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