If you go looking for this and it feels hard — that is not because you're
bad at it. Much of this information is deliberately hard to reach. Operators call it
"commercially sensitive." Big projects skip the local council. Figures that should be plain
are scattered across separate websites that don't talk to each other.
But you are legally entitled to most of it. The planning files are public.
The licences are public. You just have to know which door to knock on. This guide is the set
of doors, in order. Take it slowly. You do not need to do all of it — even one piece helps.
Door 1 — The planning file
This is where a data centre first appears, often years before it's built. It's the
richest single source, and it's free.
1
Find out which council area the site is in. A data centre is dealt with by the
local county or city council — Cork County, Fingal, South Dublin, and so on. If you know the
town, you know the council.
2
Start with the national planning search. It covers most councils in one place.
MyPlan.ie shows planning applications on a map. You can zoom to your area and click the markers.
3
Or go straight to your council's own planning search. Every council has one.
In a search engine, type your council's name and the words planning search — for
example "Cork County Council planning search". Their site lets you search by area or
by a planning reference number.
4
Search by place, then read the descriptions. Type the townland, street or area.
You'll get a list of applications. Here's the catch: a data centre is almost never called a
data centre.
What a data centre is often called instead
Data hub, digital hub, cloud campus
Technology park, business park, industrial unit
Logistics park, warehouse, distribution centre
Energy park, green energy park, battery / energy storage
Digital infrastructure, microgrid
Just a "project" name with no description of what it is
Look for the tell-tale signs in the description: very large floor area, a big
electricity or grid connection, backup generators, or a lot of water. Those give it away even
when the name doesn't.
If you found the application → open it and note the planning
reference number. Then look for the documents — the planning report, the environmental
report, the drawings. These often state the megawatt capacity, the water demand, and the
generators. Write down what you find.
If nothing comes up → the site may have skipped the council entirely.
Very large projects can go straight to the national body (see Door 2). Or it may be listed under
a name you didn't recognise — try searching just the area with no other words, and read every
large application.
Door 2 — The national fast-track
Some of the biggest data centres bypass the local council and go straight to the
national planning body. If Door 1 found nothing, try here.
1
Open An Coimisiún Pleanála. This is the national planning body (it used to be
called An Bord Pleanála).
Look under "Strategic" or "Strategic Infrastructure" cases. This is the route
large projects use to skip the council. The public is told about these, but not asked
to take part in the early stages — so they're easy to miss unless you go looking.
If you find the case → the same details apply: reference number, documents,
capacity, water, generators. Note them.
Door 3 — The EPA licence
If a site burns fuel or discharges to water, it may hold a licence from the
Environmental Protection Agency. The licence names its limits — and its conditions.
Search by the operator's name or the area. If the site holds an Industrial
Emissions licence, you'll find the licence, the inspector's reports, and the conditions — which
can include permitted discharge and generator testing hours.
3
Also try the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR). This is a public,
searchable list of the biggest emitters — what they release, and how much.
If you find a licence → brilliant — this is strong, official information.
Note the licence number and what the conditions say.
If there's no licence → that's worth knowing too. Not every site needs one.
On the form, you can note that no licence was found.
Door 4 — Ask directly (the AIE request)
If the information should be public but you can't find it, you can formally request
it. This is your legal right under the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) Regulations,
and it's free.
1
Write to the body that holds the information — Uisce Éireann for water supply,
the EPA for licences and abstraction, the council for local infrastructure. Say clearly that
it's a request under the AIE Regulations 2007–2018.
2
Be specific about what you want, and ask for it in electronic form. They have
one month to reply.
3
If they refuse or go silent, that is itself a finding. You can appeal — first an
internal review, then the Commissioner for Environmental Information, both free. And you can tell
us, so the refusal goes on the record.
Don't want to write it from scratch? Copy the template below, fill in the blanks,
and send it. That's all it takes.
Copy-and-send AIE template
Paste this into an email. Fill in the [date],
your [area/county], and your name. Change the numbered items to
suit what you're asking about.
Subject: Request for environmental information under the AIE Regulations
Date: [date]
Dear Sir/Madam,
Under the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007-2018, I request access to the following environmental information. Where information is held in a database or register, I request it in electronic form.
1. [State clearly what you want - for example: the annual volume of water supplied to data centres in [area] for the years 2019 to 2025, and whether each is connected to the public mains or to a private source.]
2. [Add further points as needed - discharge conditions, generator testing hours, grid connection, licence conditions, and so on.]
If any part of this request is refused, please cite the specific provision of the Regulations relied upon and advise me of my right to an internal review and onward appeal to the Commissioner for Environmental Information. If you consider any part unclear, please contact me rather than refuse it, and I will assist.
Yours faithfully,
[Your name]
[Your email]
Where to send it
Water supply, mains, infrastructure → Uisce Éireann. Post to: FOI/AIE
Unit, Uisce Éireann, Colvill House, 24–26 Talbot Street, Dublin 1. (Or email their general
contact with “FAO: AIE/FOI Unit” in the subject.)
Licences, abstraction, discharge, emissions → the EPA, at
AIE@epa.ie.
Local infrastructure and planning → your county or city council. Search
their name plus “AIE request” for the right address.
They have one month to reply. If they refuse or go silent, that's a finding too —
and you can add it to the map.
A few gentle rules
✓
Stay on public ground. Look at planning files and licences online. If you go to
see a site, view it from a public road or your own property only — never trespass, go in
daylight, and tell someone where you are.
✓
Blank is a finding. If you looked properly and the information simply isn't
published, that's not a failure — it's the whole point. Write NOT PUBLISHED and it goes on the
map just the same.
✓
You don't have to do all of it. One planning reference, one licence number, one
detail — every piece helps build the picture.
Before you fill in the form
When you fill in a form on a live site — such as the
CryptPad form you'll be directed to — the page can time out if you leave it sitting while you go
looking for an answer. So prepare your answers first, then open the form and paste them in.
CryptPad has been chosen because it's end-to-end encrypted and
doesn't mine your data. Given we're asking people to report on facilities near their homes, that
mattered to us.
Please be mindful that this site was conceived out of my overwhelm and concern as a mother of
three — at the impact of all this on our environment, our resources, our society, our country and
its sovereignty. I am not a scientist or a techy person, but I have done my best with the tools
available to me, to attempt to demand the accountability to which we — and the future generations
who will inherit the earth — have a right.
This work was inspired by my children, and I hope in time they'll understand why I was so
preoccupied for months.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
This is a citizen guide, not professional or legal advice.
Websites and procedures change — if a link has moved, a quick search for the body's name will
usually find the new one.