The current position in relation to the transposition of EU directives for which my Department is responsible indicates a total of 29 directives to be implemented, including seven for which the deadline for implementation has passed. Details of the directives are available on my Department's website at www.entemp.ie/ecd/eudirectives. A letter of formal notice under Article 226 of the Treaty has been issued by the European Commission in the case of four of the outstanding directives for which the deadline for implementation has passed.
The transposition of two directives, dating respectively from 1987 and 1989, is also the subject of legal action by the European Commission as regards certain aspects of the transposition measures introduced to give effect to the directives. My Department is in communication with the Commission with regard to the issues concerned.
At any point in time there will be a number of other directives in respect of which legal proceedings had commenced but where the directives in question had since been transposed. The legal proceedings in these instances usually lapse, although their formal withdrawal may take a long time to complete. No systematic record of such directives is kept since it would serve no useful purpose to do so.
I am satisfied my Department is giving due priority to the task of implementing the provisions of EU directives in light of the available resources.
