Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 December 2022
52. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of all fines, including the amounts, that his Department or agencies under the remit of his Department, have paid since the start of the 33rd Dáil term to the European Commission relating to cases for infringements of European Union law or failure to transpose EU law in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62420/22]
View answerA search of official records, in response to the Deputy’s question, indicates that there has been no cost related to my Department since the start of the 33rd Dáil term to date for fines relating to cases for infringements of European Union law or for failure to transpose EU law. Similar information from other Departments needs to be sourced directly.
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 and Trade) where these and related EU matters are monitored and discussed.
