The European Commission has given Ireland a final written warning over its failure to introduce national legislation to protect the environment from agricultural and industrial pollution.
In a "reasoned opinion", or final warning, the Commission has asked the Government to take steps to transpose EU environmental legislation into Irish law. It if fails to do so, the matter is likely to end up in the European Court of Justice.
According to the Commission, Ireland is not giving its citizens sufficient guarantees that the environment is being protected as strictly as demanded by EU directives. The EU Environment Commissioner, Ms Margot Wallstrom, called on Ireland to bring its legislation into line with EU law as soon as possible. "Correct authorisation procedures are necessary in order to control activities that could have a harmful effect on the environment. There is no point in member-states agreeing to legislation if it is not properly implemented," she said.
The Commission's concerns related to one of its major pieces of environmental legislation, the directive on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC).
It says Irish legislation falls "seriously short" of what this directive requires, as it dates from before the directive was adopted in 1996. The IPPC directive applies to industrial activities with a high pollution potential, such as the energy sector, chemical industries and food production. It also applies to intensive livestock farming and the generation of waste. The directive aims to prevent or reduce pollution through a permit system that assesses air, water and land pollution simultaneously.
Ireland is in trouble with the Commission across a range of environmental issues, in particular over its failure to transpose EU directive into national law. Last month, the advocate general of the EU Court of Justice ruled that the Government had failed to protect rivers and lakes against pollution caused by nitrates pollution from agricultural sources.
Last April, the Taoiseach wrote to all Ministers, warning them to put into law almost 50 outstanding EU directives before Ireland assumes the EU presidency next January.
