No environmentalist in the Republic is remotely surprised by this week's announcement that the European Commission is taking another batch of legal actions against the Government for breaching EU directives on environmental protection, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.
But there were bound to be red faces in the Custom House. If there is one thing the Department of the Environment detests, it is being put in the dock ever so publicly about Ireland's dismal level of compliance with EU environmental legislation. Though our record of "transposing" EU directives into Irish law has been better than most - as Minister for the Environment Martin Cullen was quick to point out - the real problem on the environmental front is implementing them.
So the Commission is taking us to the European Court of Justice in seven cases involving breaches of directives relating to habitats, sewage treatment, water pollution, wild birds and waste management, and two of failure to comply with previous rulings.
As Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa said in a letter to The Irish Times on Thursday, the Republic has one of the worst records when it comes to respecting EU environmental laws, with 85 "first warnings" issued by the Commission in the five years to 2002. This was more than the number issued against Austria, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden combined. And though Ireland accounts for just 1 per cent of the EU population, it received twice as many first warnings as France, which has 10 times as many people.
In the latest batch of legal actions, Ireland is accused of failing to protect nature and wildlife, failing to safeguard shellfish in Irish waters, failing to tackle illegal waste dumping, failing to ratify an EU directive on emissions and failing to stop the continued use of ozone-depleting pesticides on crops.
In a statement, the Commission accused the Government of failing to protect Ireland's "rich biodiversity" and of failing to deal adequately with "unlawful, environmentally damaging waste operations, and to properly implement other EU laws aimed at providing Europe's citizens with a healthy environment".
EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said full implementation of EU laws would ensure that Ireland protects its "stunningly beautiful" natural environment. "Ireland also has to continue to fight against illegal waste operations and clean up the damage they have created to give its citizens the quality of life they have the right to expect." The Commission claims that Ireland has failed to cut back on overgrazing by sheep in the Owenduff-Nephin Beg upland blanket bog complex in Co Mayo, which is the State's largest special protection area for birds, two years after being ordered to do so by the European Court, under both the EU Habitats and Wild Birds directives.
Years ago, upland blanket bog in the west of Ireland was purple with heather, but now it's dull brown as a result of massive overgrazing. Red Grouse numbers have dwindled to such an extent that this protected species is under threat. And not just because of overgrazing: serious problems are also being caused by quad bikes.
The Commission has zeroed in on the "wide exemptions for damage and disturbance caused by farming and other activities" in the laws we enact purporting to transpose EU environmental legislation, saying these had inhibited the protection of a number of species, including the Lesser Horseshoe bat and the Natterjack toad.
On the issue of illegal dumping, the Republic is already facing possible sanction by the European Court over "unauthorised waste activities" between 1997 and 2001. Though the Commission accepted some progress had been made in this area, including setting up the new Office of Environmental Enforcement, it said "serious problems persist".
Specifically, extensive quantities of waste were still deposited in wetlands at Granny Ferry, Co Kilkenny, despite an EU order requiring their removal. The Commission is also seeking confirmation that measures have been taken to clean up illegal dumps at Ardistan, Co Carlow; Dunsink, Co Dublin; Murphy's Rock, Blackpool, Cork and Tinnapark, Co Wicklow.
Ireland is also being pursued for failing to meet the December 2000 deadline for the installation of sewage treatment plants for all cities and towns with more than 15,000 people and for adopting inadequate measures to protect 14 EU-designated shellfish waters around the coast from pollution threats such as the discharge of untreated urban wastewater.
The list reads like a schedule of dilapidations. But the Minister for the Environment was unperturbed. Noting the State's "98.8 per cent compliance" with the general body of EU legislation, he said the Government was working with the Commission to deal with "matters outstanding" and the "challenges \ will occasionally arise".
However, as Green Party leader Trevor Sargent TD pointed out, these "challenges" now include a litany of European Commission legal actions over failure to act on EU environmental legislation - as exhaustively documented by environmental consultant Shirley Clerkin, former natural environment officer of An Taisce.
In a report commissioned by the Green Party and published on June 5th, Clerkin found there were 128 legal actions outstanding against the Republic at the end of last year for breaches of EU directives on the environment, while a further 85 complaints were still being assessed.
In several cases, we could be facing fines of up to €20,000 per day. Proceedings for infringing the 1985 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive have been lodged with the European Court, with a daily penalty of €21,600 proposed if the Government loses. In another case, also involving the EIA Directive, the Commission is seeking a daily penalty of €20,000 for continued non-compliance.
There were nine European Court judgments against the Republic in environmental cases over the past 10 years. These related to breaches of EU directives on impact assessment, animal experiments, habitat nominations, sheep overgrazing, polluted drinking water, major accident hazards, biocidal products, nitrates and persistent pollution of shellfish waters.
Of the 128 cases against Ireland for which infringement proceedings have started, 85 relate to instances where there has been a "bad application" of European law - most of them the subject of complaints from members of the public or environmental groups here. The highest number involved waste, followed by nature, impact assessment and water.
Patricia McKenna, the former Green Party MEP for Dublin who commissioned the Clerkin report, said the fact that further legal action was being taken against Ireland for non-compliance with EU environmental legislation "confirms that the problem is ongoing". Having lost her seat, she now hopes to continue battling to achieve compliance in other forums.
Last week, there was an oral hearing in Luxembourg on a case involving the Tramore dump, in Martin Cullen's Waterford constituency, and whether it is being operated in breach of EU directives on waste management and habitat protection; it was first the subject of an official complaint to the European Commission by Coastwatch Ireland 13 years ago.
But, however slowly the wheels of justice turn in Luxembourg, Coastwatch's Karin Dubsky conceded yesterday that things would be much worse if we didn't have Europe breathing down our necks. Indeed, the likelihood is that almost nothing would be protected, not even the air we breathe nor the water we drink, never mind about the birds and the bees.