Legal

SEAI is a Public Authority for the purposes of the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment Regulations) 2007 to 2014. (the “AIE Regulations”)

The AIE Regulations give you the right to access Environmental Information held by, or for, SEAI and other Public Authorities. Only environmental information may be requested under the AIE Regulations, for advice on how to make other information requests, please refer to our Freedom of Information webpage

What is Environmental Information?

The AIE Regulations provide us with a definition for “environmental information”. It means any information in written, visual, aural, electronic or any other material form on –

(a) the state of the elements of the environment, such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites including wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms and the interaction among these elements;

(b) factors, such as substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste, including radioactive waste, emissions, discharges and other releases into the environment, affecting or likely to affect the elements of the environment;

(c) measures (including administrative measures), such as policies, legislation, plans, programmes, environmental agreements, and activities affecting or likely to affect the elements and factors referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) as well as measures or activities designed to protect those elements;

(d) reports on the implementation of environmental legislation;

(e) cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used within the framework of the measures and activities referred to in paragraph (c); and

(f) the state of human health and safety, including the contamination of the food chain, where relevant, conditions of human life, cultural sites and built structures inasmuch as they are, or may be, affected by the state of the elements of the environment referred to in paragraph (a) or, through those elements, by any of the matters referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c).

What information is not available under the AIE Regulations?

The AIE Regulations do not apply to Environmental Information that is required to be made available under any other statutory provision.

Information that does not come within the scope of the definition of Environmental Information, and which is not already publicly available, can be requested under the Freedom of Information Acts.

How to make an AIE request to SEAI:

A request to SEAI for environmental information should be made in electronic form by e-mail to aie@seai.ie or in writing by post to:

AIE Officer

SEAI
3 Park Place
Hatch Street Upper
Dublin 2
Co.Dublin
D02 FX65

A request for environmental information shall:

(a) be made in writing or electronic form,

(b) state that the request is made under the AIE Regulations,

(c) state your name, address and any other relevant contact details,

(d) state, in terms that are as specific as possible, the environmental information that is the subject of your request, and

(e) if you require access to environmental information in a particular form or manner, specific the form or manner of access desired.

You are not required to state your interest in making the request.

There is no initial fee required when lodging a request for information under the AIE Regulations.

Where the information is held by a public authority other than SEAI we will either refer your request directly to the appropriate Public Authority or advise the you of the appropriate Public Authority to whom the request should be directed. The SEAI will inform you of this without delay.

Decision on a Request

SEAI will acknowledge your request within two weeks of receiving it, and generally make a decision on the request within one month, or two months in certain cases. If SEAI does not respond within one month the decision is deemed to have been refused and you can proceed to the review stage.

A decision on your request may be to grant, part grant or refuse the information requested. The AIE Regulations set out mandatory and discretionary grounds which SEAI may apply for refusing to grant you information. Where the SEAI refuses to grant you access to environmental information, we will specify in writing the reasons for this refusal.

Right of Review

If you are not satisfied with the decision on your AIE request, you may seek an ‘internal review’ of the decision from SEAI.

SEAI shall designate a person unconnected with the original decision whose rank is the same as, or higher than, that of the original decision-maker to review the decision. No fee will be charged for the internal review process. The review must be completed by SEAI within one month of receiving the request for an internal review.

Applications for review of a decision on a request must be made within one month, and should be addressed to:

AIE Officer

SEAI
3 Park Place
Hatch Street Upper
Dublin 2
Co.Dublin
D02 FX65
 

 

Email: aie@seai.ie

Right of Appeal

If you are still unhappy with the decision, you have the right to appeal the decision to the Commissioner for Environmental Information. Your request for appeal must be made within one month of the date that notification of the internal review decision has been, or was required to be, notified to you.

The Office of the Information Commissioner

18 Lr. Leeson Street

Dublin 2|

Email: info@oic.gov.ie

Website: https://www.oic.ie/

Is there a charge for making an AIE request?

SEAI does not charge a fee for AIE requests or internal reviews of decisions. However, fees may be charged for the cost of supplying the information, including the staff costs associated with compiling, copying, printing and posting of the information. The charges will only relate to the supply of the information. If any charges apply, this will be notified in the acknowledgment letter.

Unless otherwise stated, the copyright and any other rights in all material on this site are owned by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. You are permitted to print and download extracts from this site on the following basis:

Use of documents and related graphics on this site is for information and/or personal use only:

  • Any copies of these pages saved to disk or to any other storage medium may only be used for subsequent viewing purposes or to print extracts for personal use.
  • No documents or related graphics on this site are to be modified in any way
  • Graphics on this site are not to be used separately from the accompanying text
  • No part of this site may be reproduced or stored in any other site or included in any public or private electronic retrieval system or service without the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's prior written permission.
  • No use or display may be made of the name or logo of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland without the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's prior written permission
  • Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved.

The contents of these pages are provided as an information guide only. They are intended to enhance public access to information about the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. While every effort is made in preparing material for publication no responsibility is accepted by or on behalf of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland for any errors, omissions or misleading statements on these pages or any site to which these pages connect. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland reserves the right at any time to revise, amend, alter or delete the information provided on this site.

Although every effort is made to ensure the reliability of listed sites this cannot be taken as an endorsement of these sites.

 

BER Disclaimer

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is responsible for the registration of BER Assessors and ongoing management of the Building Energy Rating (BER) Scheme. BER Assessors are independent of and are not agents or employees of The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

The rating methodology used to produce the BER reflected in the BER Certificate incorporates standard occupancy assumptions and a range of technical judgements based upon the views of various expert organisations regarding the energy efficiency impact of various building components and attributes. A building’s energy rating may change over time due to many factors including deterioration or modification to the fabric of the building, changes to the heating systems incorporating into the building or changes to the way in which buildings are rated. 

A building’s energy rating is only a guide to its overall energy efficiency.  Actual energy usage and energy efficiency will depend on how occupants operate the building.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland does not endorse or guarantee the ratings of BER Assessors.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland does not warrant and accepts no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, completeness or merit of any BER Certificate or any material or advice provided by BER Assessors.

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 is in place to ensure that SEAI makes the information we hold available to the public.

The Freedom of Information Act gives individuals the following legal rights:

  • The right to access official records held by SEAI.
  • The right to request that any personal information relating to them is amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading.
  • The right to be provided with reasons for decisions made or taken by SEAI that affect them.

The Freedom of Information Act also obliges SEAI to publish a specific amount of information about its activities on its website, which is known as a Publication Scheme. You can read more about that below.

Note:
There are exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act where, due to specific circumstances, the requested information will not be released. For example: to protect another individual’s privacy rights. If any exemptions are necessary, the reasons will be provided and explained to you by the FOI Officer.
 

How to make a request to SEAI under the Freedom of Information legislation

To make a request to SEAI under Freedom of Information legislation, please send your request to our FOI Unit via email:        FOI@seai.ie.

or in writing to:

The Freedom of Information Officer
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
3 Park Place, Hatch Street
Dublin
Co. Dublin
D02 FX65
 

In your request, we ask that you:

Specify that the request is being made under the Freedom of Information Act;
Give as much detail as possible to support your request to enable us to process it efficiently,and;
Include your return address or email address.
 

Is there a Fee for making the request?

When the request is for personal information there are no charges unless there is a significant number of records.

In the case of requests which relate to non-personal information, charges may be applied if a significant amount of work will be involved in:

(a) Determining whether SEAI holds the records requested;

(b) Locating the records;

(c) Retrieving the records;

(d) Extracting the records from the files, documents, electronic or other information sources;

(e) Preparing a schedule detailing the records that SEAI is considering for release.

If the FOI Unit believes that charges are likely to arise in relation to your request, we will contact you notify you promptly
 

How is a Freedom of Information request processed by SEAI?

The FOI Unit will issue an acknowledgement to you within 10 working days (excluding Public Holidays) of your request being received, explaining .the next stages of the process.

A decision regarding your request will normally be issued by the FOI Unit within 20 working days of the receipt of your request.

In some cases, an extension of time may be necessary to complete the decision. If this occurs while processing your request, the FOI Unit will contact you and explain this requirement.
 

Can you appeal a decision?

Yes. If you would like to appeal the decision made by SEAI, you can do so by sending a request in writing asking for an Internal Review of the decision to the Freedom of Information Officer.

A fee of €30 (€10 for medical card holders) is applicable when appealing a decision and this must be sent with your written submission.

The review process will involve a full reassessment of your original Freedom of Information request by a staff member at a more senior level than the staff member who made the original decision.

If, after the Internal Review, you are still unsatisfied with the decision and you would like to appeal again, you can apply for a review to the Office of the Information Commissioner within six months of the Internal Review decision.

The fee for appeals to the Office of the Information Commissioner is €50 and €15 for medical card holders and their dependants. Find out more information here.

 

Find more information on our Freedom of Information Publication Scheme below.

Freedom of Information Publication Scheme

To view SEAI’s terms and conditions of purchase please download the PDF below:

To view SEAI’s DEAP4 Terms of Use, please download the PDF below:

Privacy Statement and Cookie Policy

This statement relates to our privacy practices in connection with how the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) processes your data in our capacity as a data controller, including through this website. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other websites. Any external links to other websites are clearly identifiable as such. Some technical terms used in this statement are explained at the end of this page

SEAI fully respects your right to privacy. This Data Protection and Privacy Statement relates to our privacy practices in connection with the use of personal data. This Data Protection and Privacy Statement is intended to help you understand what personal data SEAI collects about you, why we collect it, what we do with it, who we may share it with and how we protect it. It also details the rights available to you in relation to how we hold and use your personal data, how to exercise those rights, and what to do if you require more information or wish to make a complaint. The use of “we”, “us”, “our” and “ours” in this Data Protection and Privacy Statement refer to SEAI. You can find out more on our About Us webpage.

“Personal Data” is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“Data Subject”); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier such as a user IP address or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person and includes Special Categories of Personal Data.

"Special Categories of Personal Data" means any Personal Data that reveals racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership; genetic data or biometric data and data concerning health or sex life and sexual orientation.

We ensure that the personal information we collect is appropriate to the purposes for which it is obtained and is processed in compliance with the provisions of Applicable Data Protection Law which means in no particular order:

  • The General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the “GDPR”));
  • The Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018;
  • The European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks & Services) (Privacy & Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011;
  • The EU ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC (as amended) (the “ePrivacy Directive”);
  • Any successor or replacement to the laws set out above; and

All other industry guidelines (whether statutory or non-statutory) or applicable codes of practice and guidance notes issued from time to time by the Data Protection Commission relating to the processing of personal data or privacy.

SEAI is a "Controller" under the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) ("GDPR") in respect of certain personal data you furnish to us.

We collect and process personal data relating to you in connection with our relationship with you. Types of personal data includes but are not limited to:

  • your name and contact details, including your address, phone number, mobile number and email address;
  • your IP address;
  • your payment information such as bank account details;
  • details regarding your property: Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN), Gas Point Reference Number (GPRN), dwelling type, year home built and occupied, works or measures carried out or to be carried out on your property;
  • information about you which you provide us with when you apply to different schemes that we offer, including information that demonstrates your eligibility for the scheme;
  • information about your interactions with us, such as customer service records, including complaints and claims;
  • recordings of telephone conversations between you and our customer support teams;
  • any details provided in making statutory information requests: Freedom of Information requests, Access to Environmental Information requests, Ombudsman appeals, or Subject Access request; and
  • any other personal data relating to you that you provide to us or that we generate about you in connection with our relationship with you, including records of any consent you have given and your use of the SEAI website.

We also collect Special Categories of Personal Data in relation to customers who have special requirements based on health grounds. Information regarding the disability or difficulty requiring the special services is collected in order to assist SEAI to meet the needs of those applicants.

We mainly collect and record your personal data from you. You will provide this information directly to us, when you contact us in writing, by telephone or electronically. For example,

  • when you make a Freedom of Information Request, we collect certain personal data;
  • if you apply for a grant, we collect information you provide us in the grant application form and we may use this information to link it to other grant applications you have made; and
  • through your participation in the grant approval process, e-mails you send us or verbal information which you provide by phone is recorded or entered into our systems

When you visit the SEAI website, we gather cookies, statistical and other analytical information collected on an aggregate basis of all visitors to our website. This non-personal data comprises information that cannot be used to identify or contact you, such as demographic information regarding, for example, user IP addresses where they have been clipped or anonymised, browser types and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of our website.

SEAI does not collect any personal data about you on this website, apart from information which you volunteer (for example by e-mailing us or by completing an online registration form).

We also obtain information from third parties, for example, information provided to us by the contractors you have engaged to carry out works or measures on your home or business under SEAI grant programmes. If you purchase an electronic vehicle, the car dealer you have engaged with will share your personal data with us when they apply for an EV grant on your behalf. A BER assessor may provide us with certain information in order to provide you with a BER certificate for your home. Energy Suppliers who have carried out measures in your home may supply us with certain limited information to receive energy credits and where the measure is to be audited they may provide us with further personal data to facilitate a visit to your home to inspect the work. A Grantee or Landlord may provide certain information for the purpose of the administration of a Grant, such as MPRN or location details. A grantee may nominate you as their representative to act on their behalf.

The Personal Data that is referred to above will be processed for the purposes of:

  • performing our functions as a public authority, including operating the various energy efficiency programmes;
  • providing customer service to you and contacting you if required to respond to any communications you might send to us;
  • complying with our legal obligations;
  • protecting or enforcing our rights or the rights of any third party;
  • processing of a grant application;
  • establishing, exercising or defending legal claims;
  • sending you promotional and marketing materials;
  • improving the services which we provide to you;
  • improving our existing schemes;
  • developing new schemes;
  • responding to requests and providing information;
  • detecting and preventing fraud and other crime; and
  • a range of other activities which we are obliged to undertake, or which we have gained your consent to complete.

Our legal bases for collecting and using this information in accordance with the provisions of this Data Protection and Privacy Statement are:

  • that it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you;
  • that it is necessary in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you;
  • that it is necessary for the performance of tasks that we carry out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us by law (including the Sustainable Energy Act, 2002)
  • that it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that applies to us; or
  • that you have provided consent to us for the use of your personal data.

Where you have provided consent for the use of your personal data, you can withdraw it at any time by informing dataprotection@seai.ie, however, this will not affect the lawfulness of processing which was carried out based on your consent prior to its withdrawal.

As part of our ongoing operations, SEAI contracts certain third parties to carry out services on our behalf and, we may share your information with our service providers who provide us with support services. We disclose your personal data to various recipients in connection with the above purposes, examples include:

  • third parties who we engage to provide services to us, such as outsourced service providers, IT service providers, professional advisers, lawyers, consultants and auditors;
  • other public authorities and bodies where required or permitted by law, such as the Revenue Commissioners, the Comptroller and Auditor General, An Garda Síochána or other law enforcement authorities for the purposes of prevention, investigation or detection of crime; and
  • comply with any applicable law or regulation, a summons, search warrant, court or regulatory order, or other statutory requirement.

SEAI expects such third parties to process any data disclosed to them in accordance with applicable law, including with respect to data confidentiality and security. Where these third parties act as a “data processor” (for example, a call centre operator) they carry out their tasks on our behalf and upon our instructions for the above mentioned purposes. In this case your personal data will only be disclosed to these parties to the extent necessary to provide required services. We ensure that these third parties are subject to appropriate contracts and other safeguards.

Where you communicate with us via the SEAI website, the nature of the internet is such that we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us via the internet. No data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. However, we will take all reasonable steps (including appropriate technical and organisational measures) to protect your personal data.

We keep our computer systems, files and buildings secure by following legal requirements and international security guidance.

We make sure that our staff, and anyone with access to personal data that we are responsible for, are fully trained on how to protect personal data.

We ensure that our processes clearly identify the requirements for managing personal data and that they are up to date.

We regularly audit our systems and processes to ensure that we remain compliant with these policies and legal obligations.

SEAI aims to ensure that all personal data are correct. SEAI captures, stores and processes your personal data in order to carry out a range of activities. You have a range of rights available to you to give you confidence that your data is appropriately managed.

You have the right, without undue delay, to:

Gain access to and copies of your personal data: you are entitled to receive, on request and free of charge, a copy of all your personal data that we hold. There are some limitations to this right. For example, if the data also relates to another person and we do not have that person’s consent, or if the data is subject to legal privilege. Where there is data that we cannot disclose, we will explain this to you.

Ensuring that your data is accurate: our aim is to ensure that the data we hold about you is correct and up to date. From time to time we may contact you to verify the information that we hold. You may also contact us to correct any errors that you notice.

Granting or removing consent: where we require your consent for any processing, for example, to provide you with direct marketing communications, we will clearly explain what the consent is for, and any consequences of giving or refusing consent, and will provide that consent can only be given by way of a positive action by you. We will also ensure that you are able to withdraw any such consent at any time.

Restricting processing of your data: you have the right to request us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example, if there is a dispute over our rights to carry out specific processing activities, or where you do not want us to delete data. We will respond promptly to your request and will provide an explanation if we cannot fully comply.

Deletion of your data: in certain circumstances, you may have the right to have some or all of your personal data deleted from our records. This is sometimes referred to as the “right to be forgotten”. This may occur if, for example, we retain data which is no longer required by us, or if you withdraw a consent. If you continue to have a relationship with us, we must retain the data we need to manage this relationship. We will respond promptly to your request, and provide reasons if we object to the deletion of any of your personal data.

International transfers of data: in certain circumstances, we may transfer your personal information internationally, including outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). Should we do this, we ensure that all transfers are made in accordance with data protection law and that your data it will be given an equivalent level of protection that it has when it is being managed in Ireland.

Right to complain: You also have a right to complain to the Office of the Data Protection Commission if we fail to meet the required standards of data protection. You can contact the Office of the Data Protection Commission at:

Telephone: +353 (0)57 868 4800 or +353 761 104 800
Postal Address: Data Protection Commission: 21 Fitzwilliam Square South Dublin 2 D02 RD28 Ireland Webforms https://forms.dataprotection.ie/contact

In certain circumstances, you have the right to pursue a remedy through the Courts if we fail to meet the required standards of data protection. 

The collection and use of your personal data by SEAI is overseen by SEAI’s Data Protection Officer. If you wish to exercise any of your rights above or if, for any reason, you have a request or complaint about our use of your personal information, or you are unhappy in any way with the information we provide to you, we would like you to contact us directly so that we can address your complaint.

If you wish to contact our Data Protection Officer, you can do so in the following ways:

By email: dataprotection@seai.ie

SEAI endeavours to ensure that personal data are kept as current as possible and that irrelevant or excessive data are deleted or made anonymous as soon as reasonably practicable. We generally retain personal data for as long as is required to satisfy the purpose for which it was collected. We are required to keep certain types of information for a specific period of time in order to comply with legal requirements. The length of time we keep any part of your personal information will depend on the type of information and the purpose for which it was obtained.

SEAI may change this Data Protection and Privacy Statement at any time. Any changes to this privacy statement will be posted on this website, so you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) respects the privacy of all visitors to our website. This Cookie Policy outlines our policy concerning the use of cookies and similar technologies (“cookies”) on our website, www.seai.ie or other websites we may provide.

A cookie is a small piece of data that may be stored on your computer or mobile device. It allows a website “remember” your actions or preferences over a period of time. When you first log on to the SEAI website , a message will appear requesting your consent to the use of Cookies, with a link to further details about the types of Cookies used, as well as a link to our full Cookies Policy. You may choose to consent to our use of all Cookies, or you may specify which types of Cookies may be employed. All Cookies used by and on our site are used in accordance with current Cookie Law.

This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. Information on cookies placed by third parties is included in the table below.

In this Cookie Policy, any use of the words "you", "yours" or similar expressions shall mean any user of this website whatsoever.

Managing cookies

Cookie law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies, we need your permission.

At any time change you can or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website.

Within your browser you can choose whether you wish to accept cookies or not. Your browser will offer you the choice to accept, refuse or delete cookies at all times, or those from providers that website owners use ("third party cookies"), or those from specific websites.

For information on the specific cookies we use, visit Cookie Management.

SEAI uses Google Analytics to collect information about how people use this site. Google Analytics stores information about what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you clicked on. We do not collect or store your personal information e.g. your name or address, so this information cannot be used to identify who you are.

Visit Google's Privacy and Terms for more information.

SEAI maintains social network accounts on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and LinkedIn and embeds widgets from these networks as well as YouTube to provide follow buttons. This may result in cookies being set by these networks and third parties while using our site. Please note we are not responsible for the content hosted on third party sites. Please visit their websites for further information on their cookie policies.

Learn more about who we are, how you can contact us and how we process personal data in our Privacy Statement.

Cookie declaration last updated in November 2023

Contact us

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
3 Park Place
Hatch Street Upper
Dublin 2
Co.Dublin
D02 FX65
 

Email info@seai.ie