Vol. 540 No. 1
106 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the measures he will take to implement the Stockholm Convention to eliminate persistent organic pollutants which was signed in Sweden by over 90 governments on 24 May 2001; and, if so, when he will implement these measures. [19892/01]
334 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the measures which are now necessary to enable Ireland to ratify the UNEP Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants signed in Stockholm on 23 May 2001; and when it is expected these measures will be put in place and ratification completed. [19981/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 106 and 334 together.
Ireland was one of the signatories to the UNEP Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants – POPs – in Stockholm on 23 May 2001, and will work towards ratification of the convention in the context, inter alia, of the development by the EPA of national POPs emissions inventories and progress on the ratification of the 1998 UNECE (Aarhus) POPs Protocol and of the convention by the European Union. The convention enters into force following ratification by 50 countries.
Those POPs which are, or were, manufactured for use as, e.g., pesticides are banned for such use in Ireland under EU law. In the case of PCBs, primarily in use in electrical equipment, the Waste Management (Hazardous Waste) Regulations, 1998, require the provision of certain information to the EPA in respect of all such equipment and the ultimate safe disposal of PCBs as hazardous waste.
The EPA's integrated pollution control and waste licensing systems already address any use of POPs for industrial processes and any relevant emissions from incineration and other relevant sources in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of the Stockholm Convention.
