Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I am at a slight disadvantage but I understand some aspects of the convention have been ratified. I am not sure but I recall some documentation coming before us. I will check on the matter. With regard to the freedom of information aspect, it is true that on the Attorney General's advice, the Department appealed the commissioner's decision to the High Court and the case was delivered on 4 June. It upheld the Department's appeal and in summary found that the commissioner does not have the jurisdiction to determine whether the regulations are in conflict with the directive. The High Court has such jurisdiction and decided that the regulations are not in conflict with the directive.

With regard to the regulations governing this issue and the access to information on the environment regulation, SI 133 of 2007 transposed an EU directive on public access to environmental information. It came into force in 2007 and the regulations are in compliance with the directive. The High Court has jurisdiction to decide on that, rather than the commissioner, and we wanted clarity on the point for future reference. The court found the regulations are not in conflict with the directives.

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