Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 September 2004
16 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the EU directives and regulations regarding which the Government is still in dispute with the European Union; the status of the dispute in each case; and the level of penalty that may be incurred in each case. [22606/04]
View answerCurrently my Department is in correspondence with the European Commission in respect of 65 cases relating to possible breaches of EU environmental legislation in the areas of air, planning and environment policy, nature, noise, radiation protection, waste and water. While the vast majority of issues are resolved without any recourse to the European Court of Justice, at present nine of these are the subject of proceedings in the court in respect of non-compliance, or alleged non-compliance, with EU environmental legislation. This includes one case where the Commission has applied to the court to have a daily fine of €21,600 imposed on Ireland, relating to implementation of the directive on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, commonly known as environmental impact assessment or EIA directive. It is not possible to anticipate the decision of the court in this case.
