Vol. 567 No. 1
413 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will supply copies of all reasoned opinions, letters of formal notice and the responses of the Irish authorities and any other correspondence between Ireland and the EU Commission in relation to the nitrates directive. [13831/03]
A letter of formal notice was issued by the European Commission on 21 October 1996 in relation to implementation in Ireland of the nitrates directive. Supplementary letters followed and a Reasoned Opinion was issued by the Commission on 9 February 2001. Given that Ireland's implementation of the nitrates directive is now the subject of proceedings in the European Court of Justice, I am advised that it would not be appropriate to make these papers and Ireland's responses generally available for public reference. In due course, copies of the ppinion of the Advocate General and the judgment of the court will become available and I will arrange to have them placed in the Oireachtas Library.
