Vol. 565 No. 1
236 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the function if any carried out by the EPA on foot of funding provided by his Department; the extent if any to which his Department evaluate the findings of the agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10124/03]
237 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department provide funding to the EPA to facilitate the carrying out of the various functions relating to that body; if his Department has had sight of the EPA reports including up to date data in respect of environmental or air pollution; if his Department are in any way concerned at any of the findings made by the agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10125/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 236 and 237 together.
The Environmental Protection Agency carries out a wide range of statutory functions, including: licensing and regulation of industrial and other activities with significant polluting potential; licensing and regulation of all significant waste disposal and recovery activities; monitoring of environmental quality and publication of periodic reports on the state of the environment; promoting and co-ordinating environmental research; implementing a permitting system for the control of emissions of volatile organic compounds; acting as the Irish competent authority for the purposes of EU directives on the contained use and deliberate release of genetically modified organisms; preparing and implementing a national hydrometric programme for the collection, analysis and publication of information on the levels, volumes and flows of water in rivers, lakes and groundwaters; and generally overseeing the performance by local authorities of their statutory environmental protection functions.
The EPA is funded primarily by way of Exchequer grant. Almost €19 million will be provided to the agency by my Department in 2003.
