Irish attitudes towards the environment will be under the spotlight againthis week, writes Peter Murtagh.
Later this week, the European Court will give judgment in yet another case against Ireland concerning the Government's adherence - or lack of - to European Union environment laws.
The case concerns the quality of water and the extent to which the Government has allowed dangerous substances, particularly phosphorous, enter the water supply through farmyard pollution. EU member states are bound by a directive (76/464/EEC) to adopt pollution-reduction programmes involving binding water-quality objectives and a system of authorisations for discharges.
The extent to which the Government has met its legal obligations will be at the centre of the court's judgment, due to be delivered on Thursday.
The judgment will be the second of its type in as many months and if it is anything like the last, it will not make for pleasant reading. In the first judgment, delivered on April 26th in case C-494/01, the court was unstintingly critical of the Government and several local councils.
The 13 judges of the court described the Irish failure to adhere to laws and standards as "general and persistent in nature". In other words, Ireland's failure was not accidental, a momentary slip of standards, but rather evidence of a permanent state of mind on the part of the authorities.
But it is only by reading the judgment in full that the scale of lawlessness by the State - and the tolerance of it - becomes apparent.
The case against Ireland was taken by the European Commission, which is obliged to ensure, among other things, that member states of the EU uphold EU law. The commission's action followed 12 complaints between 1997 and 2000 in which citizens of Ireland sought the assistance of the EU in getting their own government to obey the law.
At issue were essentially two points: the safe disposal of waste; and the creation of a permit system to licence and inspect those doing the disposing. Ireland's obligations are detailed in two EU directives (75/442/EEC and 91/156/EEC).
Article 4 of the first directive says that member states must dispose of waste without harming either people or the environment. Article 8 says that to comply with Article 4, those in the waste business "must obtain a permit". In other words, local authorities must licence the collection and disposal of waste.
The complaints which gave rise to the case concerned illegal dumping in Limerick, Cork, Wexford, Carlow, Dublin, Laois, Donegal, Wicklow and Waterford between 1997 and 2000.
In a forensic demolition, the judges said the Government "cast doubt on the truth of numerous facts alleged by the commission on the conclusion of the investigation of the 12 complaints".
The first referred to dumping of builders waste on wetlands in Limerick, illegal activity tolerated by Limerick Corporation. In an extraordinary observation, the agency charged with caring for Ireland's environment, the Environmental Protection Agency (current mission statement: "To protect and improve the natural environment for present and future generations...") said the dumping "amounted to recovery operations not requiring authorisation".
Limerick Corporation claimed that in October 1997 "just three lorry loads" were emptied on the site - "in error", it maintained - and that the waste was removed "within hours". Debris from more recent dumping "will be removed promptly".
The judges concluded that Limerick Corporation had persistently tolerated illegal dumping on several wetland sites. They noted that the wetlands were "of particular ecological interest" and quoted from a Department of Arts and Heritage letter that the wetlands "have been badly damaged".
The next complaint concerned illegal waste storage in lagoons and land spreading of the material at Ballard in Fermoy, Co Cork. This activity, for which there was neither permit nor planning permission, was tolerated for seven years by Cork County Council. The council assured the commission that the activity had ceased and that the culprits had been fined.
But the commission was able to show that the activity was still going on, based on, among other items, documents from the council itself. And the fine was imposed for failing to provide information to the council, not for illegal dumping.
The third complaint concerned the illegal storage of waste at Pembrokestown in Co Wexford. The private operator was convicted by the District Court three times and fined €100 once and €400 on two further occasions - "a fact which testifies in particular to the inadequacy of the penalties imposed", the judges noted.
The fourth complaint concerned a landfill dump operated by Carlow County Council at Powerstown, which operated without a licence for 25 years from 1975 until 2000. The Government didn't contest the facts of this complaint.
With regard to the fifth complaint - illegal waste storage and treatment at Fermoy in Co Cork - the Government claimed the operation was licensed but produced no evidence to support this.
The sixth and tenth complaints concerned illegal dumping of builders waste at Poolbeg and Greenore, the responsibility of Dublin Corporation and Louth County Council. In both cases, the judges ruled that the local authorities knew and tolerated the illegal activity.
Time and again, the Irish authorities claimed that illegal activity alleged had in fact ceased. Time and again - as with the eighth and twelfth complaints, concerning dumps at Lea Road and Ballymorris in Co Laois and four sites in Waterford - the commission and court found otherwise.
Two other complaints, relating to three dumps in Donegal, and waste collecting in Bray, Co Wicklow, were essentially technical breaches of the law.
The general attitude of the Irish authorities is perhaps best exemplified by the reaction to the seventh complaint, made in 1999 and which concerned illegal municipal landfills at Tramore and Kilbarry in Co Waterford.
The Tramore dump adjoined a special protection area and operated illegally from 1979 until 2001. The Kilbarry dump, adjoining wetlands proposed as a natural heritage area, was created in the early 1970s and operated illegally from 1979 until 2001. The judgment noted that, according to the commission, "the unauthorised operation of these two landfills has ... caused significant environmental harm and nuisance, consisting in particular in encroachments upon the adjacent wetlands and a consequent reduction in their area".
The Irish authorities sought to absolved themselves by stating that licences were eventually granted for both dumps. And with regard to the Tramore dump encroachment on the proposed special area of conservation, the Government submitted that following a redrawing of the boundary of the proposed SAC by Dúcas, "the landfill no longer encroaches upon that area".
In a comprehensive indictment of Ireland, the court found against the Government on almost every aspect of the case and it ordered the Government to pay all of the costs of the case.
Thursday will tell whether the Government has again been found wanting in upholding the law - and whether the taxpayers have to foot the bill for it.