Analysis Our patchy record in enforcing environmental laws has created the need for an environmental police, writes Liam Reid
This month the Environmental Protection Agency celebrates its 10th birthday, and the organisation can look back with some satisfaction at its achievements.
In July 1993 the state of the nation's environment was generally unknown, while checks on what agriculture and industry pumped into the environment were limited.
Now all major industries operate under a strict licensing regime, as do all waste management facilities. Indicators of the State's environmental health are kept, along with annual reports recording any changes to the quality of our air, drinking-water, lakes and rivers.
Despite this Ireland no longer enjoys the reputation of the clean, green island of Europe. Instead, we are now vying for that unwanted title of the "dirty man of Europe".
The EPA's own indicators show a marked deterioration in many aspects of Ireland's environment over the last decade, while illegal dumps continue to be uncovered in many parts of the State.
The booming Irish economy may well have been a significant cause of the deteriorating environment.
Another major factor, however, is a general weakness in the State's enforcement of environmental laws in punishing those who recklessly or deliberately pollute.
There may well have been an unprecedented level of legislative action on the environment over the last decade, but this has not been matched by the strict policing of those new laws and regulations. Hence the need for a new environmental enforcement agency.
Under current legislation, those caught in serious breach of environmental legislation can be fined up to €12.7 million and jailed for 10 years through the Circuit Court, an option that has never been used here.
While the EPA acts as the ultimate environmental management body in Ireland, the enforcement of most environmental legislation rests with local authorities. Their success in policing their areas has been limited and patchy to say the least.
The best example of the problems of environmental policing has been the illegal dumping scandal in Co Wicklow. Two years ago Wicklow County Council adopted a proactive approach to the problem, identifying about 100 sites where illegal dumping had taken place. As part of this they uncovered a number of large sites which were operating as huge illegal landfill dumps in west Wicklow, close to Baltinglass and Blessington.
A major investigation involving the council, the EPA and the Garda has resulted in successful High Court actions to close down the operations of one of the companies involved, coupled with an order for its directors to pay to clean up one of the sites.
The fact remains, however, that until 2001 this illegal dumping was allowed to continue right under the nose of the council, as large trucks full of waste made their way to the sites unchecked nearly every day for 10 years.
Wicklow County Council may now be tackling illegal dumping, but there are concerns in Government that many local authorities have similar problems in their areas, as there is now a huge financial incentive to engage in illegal dumping.
With the closure of many old legal landfill sites, the cost of using regulated dumps has risen to more than €3,000 per 20-tonne load.
By dumping illegally, an operator can save at least €2,500 per load.
Proper enforcement stretches beyond the issue of illegal dumping, however, according to officials from the Department of the Environment.
In recent years the Department and the European Union have received numerous complaints about local authorities failing to enforce environmental legislation, from unlicensed waste-transfer stations operated by local authorities to illegal dumping.
Indeed, Ireland has the highest number of environmental complaints to the European Commission.
The EPA has spent the last 10 years bringing various industries into compliance with a new pollution-control licensing system.
However, the current level of penalties imposed by courts on firms that breach their licences, which in most cases means atmospheric or water pollution, may not be sufficiently high to act as a deterrent.
In 2001 convictions were secured in the District Court against 12 firms and individuals for breaches of pollution control legislation.
The total of the various fines amounted to less than €120,000 although, according to a recent EPA report, the firms in question did take action to address their pollution problems following conviction.
Privately, officials from local authorities and the EPA maintain that securing convictions for breaches of environmental law can be extremely difficult, time-consuming and costly, and that, with limited resources, they have taken the "carrot" approach of encouraging firms to comply with regulations as opposed to the "stick" of prosecution.
However, in the current climate, this is no longer seen as a sufficient explanation.
"We have to show that those who pollute will be prosecuted, and will be jailed or fined heavily," said one Government official.