Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 May 2022
152. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a schedule of fines and totality of the amount paid in respect of fines issued by the EU on his Department for failing to transpose EU directives; if he will include the directive that was not transposed on time; and if he will indicate the directives that are still not fully transposed for the past 25 years to date in 2022. [22325/22]
View answerA search of official records, in response to the Deputy’s question, indicates that there has been no cost to my Department from 2011 to date for fines paid by Ireland for non-transposition of EU directives into Irish law. To go back beyond that period would not be an efficient use of time and resources.
For background, the European Commission, in 2017 – “EU law: Better results through better application (2017/C 18/02)” - set out its revised approach to seeking fines in cases of non-transposition of an EU Directives. Staff in the Department are aware of this altered approach. Our objective, when dealing with the often complex and time pressurised work of transpositions, is to avoid a situation whereby the imposition of fines may become a consideration.
Furthermore, my Department is represented on an inter-departmental committee (chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs) where these and related EU matters are monitored and discussed.
