Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 December 2012
306. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if Directive 85/337/EEC as amended, EIA Directive, has been fully transposed into Irish legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55556/12]
View answerDirective 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive), as amended by Directives 97/11/EC, 2003/35/EC and 2009/31/EC, has been transposed into Irish law primarily by means of the European Communities (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1989 to 1999, and they have also been incorporated more generally into various consent legislation.
In March 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union found against Ireland in Case C-50/09 to the effect that Ireland had not fully or correctly transposed elements of the EIA Directive, as amended. As I indicated in the reply to Parliamentary Question No. 469 of 28 February 2012, which detailed the measures being taken to rectify matters in this case, sections 53 and 54 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 directly transpose Article 3 of the EIA Directive into Irish planning legislation.
Furthermore, acknowledging the wider applicability of Article 3 to the entirety of operative consent systems provided for in Irish law, amending regulations pursuant to the European Communities Act 1972 have been introduced by the relevant Departments in the development areas of aquaculture, arterial drainage, flood risk, foreshore, forestry, gas, petroleum and planning.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the EIA Directive, as amended, has now been fully and properly transposed into Irish legislation.
