THE European Commission is taking legal action against Ireland over the Department of Agriculture's failure to monitor the environmental damage done by sheep overgrazing, according to informed sources.
The action - being taken under Article 169 of the Rome Treaty - is part of a wider set of legal proceedings against Ireland for failing to protect ecologically sensitive areas.
All EU funded grants - including payments to sheep farmers - are paid on the basis that no other EU law is contravened and no environmental damage is done. "The Department of Agriculture hasn't policed this at all," one source said.
A spokesman for the Department said it had "received nothing formally" regarding legal action. "We've heard something is happening and we're sitting on the edge of our seats, but there's been nothing yet."
The spokesman noted that a package of financial measures to lessen the problem of overgrazing by sheep in sensitive mountain areas had been announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, in October 1995.
These measures, under the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS), provided generous cash payments to farmers who agreed to reduce sheep numbers on the hills. Mr Yates also announced a £300,000 study on overgrazing.
Last year, more than £100 million was paid to sheep farmers - under various schemes - headage payments, ewe premiums and REPS. "There are very serious questions to be answered about how this money was spent," one source said.
Much of the annual subvention to agriculture, co funded by the EU, consists of incentives to increase stocking levels. "So you have one arm of the State and EU funding destruction that another arm is trying to remedy," he added.
Environmental groups such as An Taisce and the Irish Peatland Conservation Council have been, drawing attention to the wide spread damage being done to blanket bog and other sensitive upland habitats by sheep overgrazing.
Following their complaints and its own investigations, the European Commission has initiated a wider legal action over Ireland's alleged failure to assess the environmental impact of intensive farming projects.
This action relates to the intensification of agriculture in semi natural areas, as well as afforestation and peat extraction projects. Specific projects cited include a recent major forestry scheme near Pettigo, Co Donegal.
The case, which could end up in the European Court, also indicts Ireland for the delay of more than two years in designating Special Areas of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive. SACs cover 5 per cent of the land area.
The Minister for Arts and Culture, Mr Higgins, has said he will sign the required regulations next month. But he has been under considerable pressure from farmers who are concerned that they may lose their development rights.
