The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Community concerned the transposition by Ireland of Directive 85/337/EEC on environmental impact assessment. The court decided that Ireland did not correctly transpose the directive in terms of the application of environmental impact assessment to afforestation and peat extraction.
My Department has been leading negotiations with the European Commission for some time on the development of proposals to address the court ruling. These discussions have also involved the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, which has primary responsibility in relation to afforestation, and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, in relation to peat extraction on conservation sites. The negotiations with the Commission have been positive. In that context, the Commission has recently indicated that the strategy being pursued by Ireland appears to be capable of satisfying the court judgment. I hope to be able to announce the details of our proposals in the context of presenting the draft regulations on exempted development under the Planning and Development Act, 2000. I expect to present these to both Houses within the next month. On this basis, I am satisfied that a successful outcome to the negotiations will result in Ireland not being fined in this case.
