I propose to take Questions Nos. 5, 24 and 78 together.
Regulations to transpose Directive 90/313/EEC on Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment into Irish law will be made later this week. I intend to promulgate these regulations widely, together with detailed guidance notes and a shorter information leaflet.
The regulations, like the directive, will embody broad definitions of the kind of public authorities and environmental information to which its provisions apply. It will therefore be a matter of legal interpretation in particular cases whether a public authority or specific information are covered by the regulations. It will however be relevant to the position of An Bord Pleanála that the directive excludes bodies acting in a judicial or legislative capacity and also permits refusal of information in relation to matters which are or have been sub judice, or which are or have been under inquiry, or which are the subject of preliminary investigation proceedings.
As regards the High Court judgment referred to, the regulations will be made under section 110 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992; the European Communities Act, 1972, is not involved.
As regards reports of county councils acting in breach of the directive, all public authorities, including local authorities, have been requested to comply with the provisions of the directive pending the making of implementing regulations. While I have no supervisory or appellate role in relation to local authorities in this matter, I understand that the two county councils named in the report have stated that their actions comply with the provisions of the directive.
