Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I presume the question refers to European Court of Justice cases C215-06 and C66-06, both of which relate to the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive and which are the subject of letters of formal notice from the Commission to which the Irish Government will shortly be responding.

In relation to case C215-06, the ECJ ruled, in June 2008, that the Irish retention permission system did not comply with the EIA Directive. In response to the judgment, amendments are being made in the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009, to be enacted this summer – to remove the possibility of retention for EIA development, other than in exceptional circumstances and to abolish the seven year rule for enforcement action in respect of extractive industry EIA development. Pending enactment of the amending legislation, my Department issued a circular letter to planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála in October 2008, outlining the approach to be taken in dealing with retention applications for EIA developments in the interim. I understand the circular has been effective in preventing applications for retention of EIA-type developments being accepted by planning authorities since its publication.

In case C66-06, in November 2008 the ECJ found that Ireland's system of screening projects to assess the requirement to carry out EIA for certain categories of agricultural development was over-reliant on size thresholds and did not take sufficient account of other relevant criteria such as the cumulative effects of development and the location of those developments. In response to the judgment, my Department is proposing to lower the thresholds for affected projects under which an EIA is mandatory, introduce enhanced notification and screening processes for relevant sub-threshold development, and abolish any planning exemptions for relevant projects where an EIA is required.

The ECJ judgment also ruled that the Irish regulations transposing the EIA directive in regard to aquaculture activities were deficient, and this matter is being addressed by my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

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