Mr. Peter Carvill:

One well known case is the Galway city outer bypass. This case ultimately went through the Supreme Court to the European Court. That was a judicial review of a decision by An Bord Pleanála. I do not have the figures on the actual cost, but it gives rise to lengthy delays and the cost and complexity of legislation, which will absorb resources in various Departments and agencies such as An Bord Pleanála, which are dealing with those cases. It is one of the reasons we have worked on framing new regulations. We revoked the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997, which were in a number of respects found to be inadequate. Rather than trying to amend the regulations, we started from scratch and did a completely new set of regulations without undoing the work that had been done under previous regulations. That gives a degree of legal clarity which I think is helpful. One could say we have all been on a learning curve, and from our contacts with other member states regarding these particular directives, I do not think we are unique in that respect. Other member states have had difficulties with these directives because they are stretching in terms of protecting nature. They are making demands which perhaps we and other member states have not been used to applying in terms of the protection of habitats and species.