The EU is pursuing 88 separate infringement cases against the Government for alleged breaches of European law across a range of sectors.
Almost half the infringement proceedings (37) relate to breaches of EU environment legislation. Examples include the recent demolition of an archaeological site at Lismullin, Co Meath, to make way for the M3 motorway, and a failure to provide adequate clean water supplies.
The European Commission is also pursuing 14 cases where it is alleged that EU internal market rules have been broken and a further 11 cases where the Republic has broken EU tax laws.
There are also outstanding infringement cases in several other legislative areas including employment, fisheries, justice and enterprise and health policy. An internal document seen by The Irish Times shows that Ireland is currently mid-table in Europe in relation to the number of outstanding infringement cases. Italy is the worst performer in the EU, accounting for 8.8 per cent of the 3,200 ongoing infringement proceedings.
Lithuania is the best, accounting for just 1.3 per cent of cases, while Ireland's performance stands at 3.4 per cent of all cases.
The main purpose of launching infringement proceedings against member states is to bring their actions and domestic legislation back into line with European law. It usually starts with the commission sending a formal notice to an EU state but can lead to litigation at the European Court of Justice if no action is taken. But this can take several years, according to the commission, which yesterday launched a strategy to make the process more efficient.