There are currently four cases in respect of which the European Commission has initiated legal action. The first concerns the making of waste management plans. While the formal judgment of the European Court is expected shortly, the Commission now acknowledges that Ireland has met its obligations in this regard.
The second case concerns water quality in certain private rural water supplies. My Department is actively pursuing an intensive programme of measures to improve these supplies and achieve high water quality.
The third case concerns non-compliance with the directive on polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls, PCB-PCT. The EPA's national hazardous waste management plan largely addresses the requirements of the directive. Further work by the EPA to identify all PCB holdings will address outstanding requirements.
The fourth case, recently notified, concerns the designation of vulnerable zones under the nitrates directive. Ireland gave effect to the nitrates directive through dissemination, in 1996, of a code of good agricultural practice and appropriate monitoring of water quality since 1992. All available water quality data are being assessed with a view to designating nitrate vulnerable zones by end 2001.
The Commission has announced its intention to take legal action, but no formal notice has issued, in one other case, in relation to the dangerous substances directive. For the purposes of this directive water quality standards have been established for phosphorous and 14 other substances. However, EPA monitoring indicates that dangerous substances, other than phosphorous, are not a problem in Irish waters generally.
