MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has appointed a review group to assess the performance of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as its scope, mandate and structure.
The establishment of the group, which is to be chaired by John McCarthy, assistant secretary at the Department of the Environment, derives from a commitment made in the programme for government negotiated by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party in June 2007.
“Given the key role played by the agency in monitoring, maintaining and improving Ireland’s environmental performance, I attach a high level of importance to this review”, the Minister said yesterday, adding that environmental governance was a “key priority” for him.
Without mentioning that the EPA’s budget was cut by 18 per cent this year, Mr Gormley said the review was also important “in the context of the Transforming Public Services agenda and need for efficiency and effectiveness in a resource-constrained environment.” As part of the review, he said there would be “comprehensive consultation” with key stakeholders, including Government departments, State agencies that interact with the EPA, local authorities, non-governmental organisation and the general public.
The Minister said he had asked the review group, whose members “possess the necessary skills and experience, to report back to him before the autumn. “I look forward to receiving the outcome of their deliberations on this wide and complex remit,” he said.
The terms of reference include reviewing the legislation governing the EPA, including its licensing functions, processes to ensure public participation, the various remedies and sanctions available to the agency for enforcement and to identify any necessary improvements in the legislation.
The review group will assess the performance of the EPA against the mandate which it was given when it was originally established in 1993, “in relation to the expanding goals which have been set for it in the past decade and in comparison with best practice elsewhere, and to identify any necessary improvements.” It has also been asked to assess the scope of the EPA’s mandate and whether it could be strengthened to include other areas, to review the resources allocated to the EPA in relation to current obligations and further functions that may arise on foot of EU legislation, and to assess the structures and governance of the agency.
Apart from Mr McCarthy, the members of the review group are: Dr Kenneth Irvine, of the school of natural science in Trinity College; Prof Sharon Turner, chair of environmental law, Queens University; Jack O’Sullivan, director of Environmental Management Services and member of An Taisce’s national council; Dr Áine Ryall, of the law faculty in UCC; Fred Langeweg, former deputy director, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency; and Larry Stapleton, a former director of the EPA.