Ireland is flouting European Union rules by turning a blind eye to waste dumping, the EU's highest court ruled today in the latest condemnation of the Government's environmental record.
"Irish authorities have tolerated unauthorised activities in numerous places in Ireland, often over long periods," the European Court of Justice said in a statement. "Such a failure to fulfil obligations is general and persistent in nature."
Ireland, which this year topped an EU list of environmental offenders, is in breach of a 20-year-old directive requiring states to dispose of waste without risking public health or the environment for not regulating landfill sites properly.
"The permit procedure was slow, taking 808 days on average and sometimes almost four years, and there was a lack of appropriate measures for ensuring that facilities were promptly made subject to the domestic system finally set up," the court said.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche
The European Commission received a dozen complaints between 1997 and 2000 before filing a general complaint in 2001 that Ireland was failing to enforce the law.
The Commission stated that the 12 complaints did not constitute the only cases of non-compliance with the directive.
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche claimed Ireland has greatly improved its environmental record since the period covered by the complaints.
But Mr Roche said it was his intention to have the judgement carefully studied by a group of officials from his Department, the Office of Environmental Enforcement and the Attorney General's Office.
"Where gaps are identified in our current control regime, these will be urgently rectified," he said.
Mr Roche said: "The findings of the Court are a timely reminder of the consequences of poor past waste management practices and of the urgent necessity to put in place a modern waste infrastructure."
He said: "Illegal waste activities are crimes against the environment."
"Those who engage in illegal waste activities tarnish our striking achievements as a nation in this area," he added.
Green Party spokesman Ciaran Cuffe, said the courts should be called on to bring the full force of the law on illegal dumpers, imposing fines of millions of euro where warranted.
"There is a culture of complacency form local authorities upwards and the buck has to stop somewhere," Mr Cuffe said.
"It's not as if this is the only problem out there and we do need a sea change in our approach to waste management. The courts should be brought in to it, the fines from district courts are practically derisory.
Fine Gael today tabled a motion in the Dail calling on the Minister for Environment to issue a direction to the relevant authorities to have the illegally dumped waste at the site known as O'Reillys, Whitestown, Stratford on Slaney and the Roadstone Lands at Blessington, Co Wicklow removed immediately.
Party spokesman Billy Timmins said that the local population have lost confidence in the Government to do anything about the problem and that despite the fact that over 3 years has passed none of the waste has been removed to date.
The ruling follows news this month that the EU executive will also take Ireland to court over bad smells from sewage plants, including a treatment works at Ringsend in Dublin that is emitting foul odours.
Ireland started 2005 at the top of an EU blacklist of countries facing legal action over environmental offences after the European Commission said it would have to answer eight charges including breaches of water and air pollution rules.
Additional Reporting: Reuters