More than one-third of the 96 EU directives waiting to be transposed into Irish law are overdue for implementation, new figures reveal.
The Government departments with the worst record for implementation of directives are Transport, Environment and Finance.
Each of these departments has seven directives overdue.
Details of the state of play of EU directives awaiting transposition across all Government departments were given to Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen in a recent series of written Dáil replies to questions.
In the Department of Transport, one directive relating to "occurrence reporting in civil aviation" is almost two years late.
Another directive, on the safety of third-country aircraft using community airports, was due on April 30th, while a directive on the training of drivers of certain road vehicles was due on September 10th, 2006.
According to the department, "every effort is being made" to have the directives implemented at the earliest possible date.
Meanwhile, a directive relating to the emission of gaseous pollutants from internal combustion engines, due in August 2004, has still not been implemented by the Department of the Environment.
A directive on the emissions limit of "volatile organic compounds" in the use of organic paints and varnishes is overdue since last October, while a directive on the sulphur content of marine fuels due last August has still not been implemented.
One of the five directives overdue in the Department of Health relates to labelling of cosmetic products. It was due on January 1st.
All Government departments report every month to the Interdepartmental Committee on European Affairs, chaired by Minister of State Noel Treacy, on the status of outstanding directives.