The High Court ruled that Raheenleagh Power DAC is a public authority under both relevant provisions of the environmental information regulations, overturning the Commissioner for Environmental Information’s contrary decision.
Mr Justice Alexander Owens delivered the judgment on 25 January 2021 in Right to Know CLG’s appeal on a point of law. The group had asked Raheenleagh Power in May 2017 for wind turbine noise data that supported information in the wind farm’s planning application. The company refused the request on the basis that it was not a public authority.
The judge held that the Commissioner erred in law by finding that Raheenleagh Power did not perform public administrative functions under the legal regime governing its activities. The judgment says the Commissioner had not fully considered whether the statutory framework entrusted the company with services of public interest and gave it special powers. These included access to the national grid and powers under electricity legislation that could enable compulsory acquisition or interference with property rights, subject to regulatory oversight.
The court also found that Raheenleagh Power had public responsibilities or functions, or provided public services, relating to the environment, and was under the control of a public authority. The judge said electricity generation for the grid under the statutory regime formed part of a public service relating to aspects of the environment. He also found that wind turbine noise information supplied for a planning application touched on the company’s public environmental responsibilities.
On control, the judgment noted that the ESB held half the company’s shares through a subsidiary and provided day-to-day management through its group. The judge concluded that the ESB was in a position to exert decisive influence over Raheenleagh Power’s actions in the environmental field. Coillte had also been a shareholder and public authority when the information was requested, but its shares were sold in 2018 to GR Wind Farms 1 Ltd, a private company. The judgment states that if control by a public authority ceases, the entity would no longer qualify under the control-based provision.
The court’s appeal jurisdiction was limited to legal questions; it could not decide disputed facts or conduct an investigation. The parties agreed the Commissioner had enough material to decide the issues. The judge said that where the statutory tests applied, the Commissioner should decide all relevant factual and legal matters, including control.
The judgment concludes that Raheenleagh Power is a public authority under both provisions. The supplied judgment text does not set out a separate formal order directing disclosure of the requested noise data.