THE INFORMATION Commissioner Emily O’Reilly has ruled that Anglo Irish Bank is subject to public requests for information relating to the environment.
Under a little-known statutory instrument which gives public access to information, citizens have a legal right to access information from “public authorities” on the environment.
The bank, which was nationalised in January 2009, has refused requests for information under this provision – relating to such matters as travel expenses and properties – on the basis that it is a company and not a public body.
However, in a ruling this week, Ms O’Reilly found that the bank was not justified in refusing these requests. She said the bank met the criteria for a “public authority”, as set out in the statutory instrument known as the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations (2007). It gives the public a legal right to information on the environment from a range of public authorities.
Ms O’Reilly’s decision means the bank is likely to be obliged to release environmental information on issues such as mileage or travel expenses. It may also apply to a wider range of property-related information, though the full extent of the legislation has not yet been tested.
The decision follows a request for information by Dublin-based journalist Gavin Sheridan under the environmental law. The commissioner made a similar ruling in respect of similar requests for information from the National Asset Management Agency by the same journalist earlier this month.
Anglo Irish Bank can appeal the decision to the High Court within the next two months. A spokesman for the bank was unavailable for comment on whether it will do so.
Sheridan’s original request for information from the bank dates back to February of last year when he sought details on property-related loans, travel expenses and the leasing of properties.
He said the ruling was significant because there was now greater clarity on the scope of the law and suggested it could apply to other companies or bodies where the State holds a significant shareholding.
In addition, he said environmental information could apply to a wide category of data such as anything relating to land, planning permission or greenhouse gases.
“No one has used these regulations to any great degree so far. But once members of the public begin to use this and appeal decisions, we can begin to understand how widely these regulations can be used,” Sheridan said.
Regulations on access to environmental information operates in parallel with the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.
While the two legislative codes are broadly similar with respect to environmental information, the regulations apply to a wider range of public bodies than are covered by the FoI Act. There are also differences in the grounds under which access to information can be refused under the two codes.
