Government procrastination and penny-pinching, allied to the bloody-minded behaviour of some local authorities, have damaged the public image of this State abroad. The European Court of Justice formally ruled yesterday that the Government had failed to comply with its obligations under EU waste directives and had tolerated unauthorised landfills over long periods of time.
The judgment has come at a time when Irish tourism is desperately trying to project a clean and welcoming image to would-be visitors.
There is no excuse for what happened. The rules about waste disposal were clear and unambiguous. But local authorities took short cuts and allowed illegal dumping to take place, even as the Government withheld necessary funding and local councillors failed to take the kind of decisive action necessary to deal with the situation. There was failure on many levels. And that same unwillingness to take unpopular but necessary action to protect a fragile environment is still with us.
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche attempted to minimise the importance of the judgment yesterday by drawing attention to a range of legislative and administrative changes in recent years. And while the Minister is correct in his contention that much has changed for the better since 1997, his tendency to behave as if responsibility for environment matters should only date from his own promotion, last September, is risible.
The Government had plenty of warning it was breaking the rules. The European Commission examined 12 formal complaints involving waste disposal made to it between 1997 and 2000. In the following year, it encouraged the Government to put its house in order by issuing what is known as a "reasoned opinion". And it was only when the official response to that document was found to be inadequate that the Commission referred the cases to the European Court of Justice.
There is an unfortunate pattern in the way the Government has failed to implement EU directives on environmental matters, because of political and commercial pressures. Protection of water quality is a case in point. Fourteen years after a strict nitrates regime was to have been established, the Minister is still wrangling with the EU Commission over water pollution and cattle stocking levels. This is in spite of the fact that the European Court has already declared the Government to be in breach of its obligations and the Commission threatened to withhold €500 million in farm support payments.
Because of the Minister's constituency experience in Co Wicklow, he appears to be more interested than his predecessors in addressing the scandal of illegal dumping. He described yesterday's court ruling as "a timely reminder" of past failures and of the urgent necessity to put in place a modern waste management infrastructure. Mr Roche knows exactly what is required. He should push ahead with the job.