Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 Jun 1998

Vol. 492 No. 7

Written Answers. - Sustainable Development Strategy.

John Gormley

Question:

117 Mr. Gormley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures, if any, in place to promote the concept of industrial ecology for application in productive activities, in particular in the workplace, local and regional levels, in order to move from process ori ented to systems oriented approaches to sus tainable production and consumption; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15258/98]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney)

In recent years, the environment has become a key issue, with wide-ranging implications, for business and indus try. The concept of sustainable development is recognised as offering both challenges and oppor tunities to all sectors, including business and industry. Progress has been achieved in the pro motion of sustainable development through a combination of regulatory and voluntary measures. Of particular relevance is the inte grated pollution control — IPC — licensing sys tem operated by EPA, which has raised the environmental awareness of industry operating across a broad spectrum of activities.

Environmental management systems — EMS — are becoming increasingly popular with some firms opting to adopt certified systems such as the EU eco-management and audit scheme — EMAS — or the ISO 14001 standard. In addition, many firms have developed their own "informal" environmental systems. The National Accreditation Board — NAB — and the EPA have developed a joint auditing and reporting process to meet the requirements of both EMAS and the IPC system. This initiative eliminates the requirement of a separate audit for each system and is, I understand, the first of its type in Europe. In addition, the concepts of eco-labelling and product life cycle analysis are achieving greater acceptance in industry and they demon strate that firms can benefit from the adoption of formal environmental assessment mechanisms through cost savings and the exploitation of mar ket advantage in addition to the resulting environmental benefits.