Mr. John McCarthy:

In terms of the legal situation, there is a very comprehensive corpus of legislation now in place on environmental enforcement generally, including in regard to waste. In large measure, many of the cases now being dealt with have a historical dimension to them. The legislative and structural arrangements for waste enforcement were enhanced quite significantly in the middle of the last decade, in particular with the establishment of a new office of environmental enforcement within the Environmental Protection Agency. That has a dual role, both in regard to the enforcement activities the agency undertakes and in terms of overseeing the enforcement activities of local authorities. The EPA monitors, and then publishes reports on, environmental enforcement generally.

In a report published in the past week or ten days, it categorised the enforcement activities across the country in this area, which comes to approximately 12,000 enforcement actions. They range all the way from the very minor up to the much more significant. I understand from that report that between 2009 and 2012, there were approximately €2.1 million in fines and costs were awarded in waste-related cases before the courts. That reflects an increasing trend of going to the higher courts, reflecting the seriousness of the issues.

In regard to some of the cases covered in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, I will be a little careful as there are some legal proceedings still going on. In regard to the former Greenstar facility in east Galway, the EPA took a legal action against the company, the receiver and other parties. The High Court ruled against the agency in April of this year but it is considering a Supreme Court appeal, so I will leave it at that. In regard to Kerdiffstown, there has been a number of proceedings both of a criminal and a civil nature. Criminal proceedings are still pending in that case. In other proceedings, the agency has obtained orders for more than €2.6 million which, in effect, now attach to the lands. Obviously, the scope to recover that money remains to be seen but it has brought it to that point. There are also civil proceedings going on in regard to Kerdiffstown, so I will not comment on that.

As the Deputy knows, there has been a long history with Whitestown in Wicklow, going back through many court sessions.

The High Court action in that case has been adjourned until such time as the remediation is completed. I would expect that the case will return to the courts next year. In that case there were, of course, criminal prosecutions as well, resulting in fines of over €200,000. There are a range of both criminal and civil proceedings in train with regard to some of the larger cases. Obviously the process of actually assembling evidence for cases which go back some period in time and trying to trace waste that was found back to the individuals responsible is a challenge. It does take some time but quite a number of cases have already been taken or are pending.