Press release
Environmental Commissioner: 2025 sees improved decision-making on information requests
From Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (OCEI)
Published on
Last updated on
Speaking on the publication of his Annual Review for 2025, Commissioner for Environmental Information, Ger Deering, has acknowledged the improvement by public authorities when dealing with requests for environmental information under the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) regulations.
AIE regulations provide a right for the public to access environmental information held by public authorities such as government departments, local authorities and other State bodies. The Commissioner for Environmental Information reviews decisions made by public authorities on an AIE request.
The Commissioner said his Office issued 189 formal decisions in 2025, overturning the decision of the public authority in response to an AIE request in just under 55% of cases. While still high, the Commissioner said it was a welcome trend downward. The annulment rate in 2023 stood at just under 92% of cases and fell in 2024 to just under 66%.
The Commissioner said that his Office had meaningful engagement with public authorities and the aim of his Office was “to continue to promote good decision making and dissemination of information by public authorities in the hope of reducing the need for requesters to appeal decisions.”
The number of appeals made to the Commissioner’s Office has risen in recent years. The trend continued in 2025 with 352 appeals of AIE decisions recorded, a 12.5% increase on 2024.
As in previous years requests for information relating to forestry continued to dominate the Commissioner’s work with around 66% of appeals relating to decisions of either the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, or Coillte.
The Commissioner for Environmental Information’s Annual Review 2025 is available here.
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Contact Information:
David Nutley
Head of Communications
Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information
Ph: 086 412 0240
Email: david.nutley@ombudsman.ie
6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2