Vol. 429 No. 7
80 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment the views, if any, he has on the development of environmental liability legislation in Europe, along lines adopted already in the US, which provides for strict and retrospective liability for environmental damage, in terms of its consequences for the solvency of small businesses and local authorities.
New and wider provisions regarding environmental liability have been incorporated in the Water Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1990 and the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992.
I am aware of international developments in relation to environmental liability, and in particular the recently concluded Council of Europe Convention on civil liability for damage resulting from activities dangerous to the environment and parallel measures aimed at the harmonisation of EC policy in this area. Implementation of such liability systems could involve complex legal and practical considerations, including the issues of strict liability for environmental damage and the retrospective application of liability. I anticipate that Ireland's position on the issues involved will be formulated principally in the context of proposals to be developed by the EC Commission following their recently published Green Paper on environmental liability.
