Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Necessary enabling provisions to facilitate implementation of Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles were incorporated in the Protection of the Environment Act 2003. Part 5 (a) of the Waste Management Act 1996, as inserted by section 44 of the Protection of the Environment Act 2003, explicitly provides for the following: producer responsibility for the free deposit of ELVs at authorised treatment facilities by their last owners; the appropriate treatment and recovery of ELVs deposited at authorised treatment facilities in line with the directive's requirements, the mandatory deposit of ELVs by their registered owners at authorised treatment facilities for appropriate treatment and recovery, and the issuing of certificates of destruction in respect of ELVs deposited at authorised treatment facilities for scrapping.

The delay in fully transposing and implementing the directive principally reflects difficulties in reaching agreement with the relevant sectors on the detailed mechanisms for the operation of the free ELV take-back arrangements required by the directive, including how such arrangements will be funded.

My Department has had correspondence and discussions with the European Commission on various aspects of the transposition and implementation of the directive in Ireland. Legal proceedings were initiated against Ireland in the European Court of Justice by the European Commission in October 2003 on the grounds that as the regulations on the detailed arrangements for the implementation of the directive in Ireland had not been made, the directive was only partially transposed. On 28 October 2004, the European Court of Justice issued a reasoned opinion in this case and found that Ireland had failed to fulfil its obligations to fully transpose and implement Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles.

On foot of the European Court of Justice ruling, I have held a number of meetings with the relevant sectors with a view to developing an effective and pragmatic approach to implement the directive. I intend to announce my proposals shortly and to draw up regulations later this year to transpose fully the directive's provisions and facilitate its early implementation.

See this speech in context