Roche critical over lack of consultation

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has criticised the European Commission for not informing him it was taking legal action against the Government for environmental failures.

The commission is taking the Government to the European Court of Justice over breaches of EU environmental law, including a failure to put in place controls to prevent foul odours from the Ringsend waste water treatment plant.

In a statement released yesterday the commission said there was a lack of satisfactory rules in Ireland to implement the EU waste directives and that there had been complaints about the smells from a number of Irish waste treatment plants, including the one at Ringsend.

"Legislation promised by the Irish Government to better regulate the management of such plants has not yet materialised."

Mr Roche said his department has been in regular contact with the commission and he himself had spoken to the commission on this issue. It was "unacceptable" and a "failure of administration" he said, that he would not be contacted before legal proceedings were pursued.

"While the issues raised by the commission have been the subject of correspondence with the department, my department has not had sight of the latest correspondence referred to in the commission's press release.

"Indeed I consider it unacceptable that the first that my department hears of this correspondence is through the media. This does not strike me as a professional way of conducting business," he said.

Green Party chairman and TD for the Ringsend area John Gormley, who initiated the complaint about the plant, said the Minister had ignored both the problems of the plant and European law.

"I welcome the fact that the European Commission is now taking action against Ireland for failing to implement the EU Framework Directive on Waste . . . This confirms Ireland's status as the environmental delinquents of Europe and the Irish Government's cavalier attitude towards EU directives."

Mr Gormley said he was forced to bring his complaint to Brussels because he was "fobbed off" in his attempts to get the Government to address the problems at the plant.

The commission's case cites lack of satisfactory rules and controls to ensure that the siting, design and maintenance of domestic waste water treatment systems do not damage the environment.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said it does not accept the commission's accusations and said Ireland's waste water treatment plants are "state of the art".

He admitted there had been recent odour problems at Ringsend, because of engineering work, but said: "the odour issue isn't constant".

However, the chairman of the local environmental group, Damien Cassidy, does not agree. "The smell still prevails and the people are still up in arms about it. The commission's decision justifies the campaign we have waged since the plant opened in July 2003."