Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I also thank her officials for the briefing provided earlier today. As the Minister of State noted, it took her half an hour to present the Bill to us.

Part of the Bill concerns the role of the Environmental Protection Agency. It seems there is a tidying up of loose ends to endeavour to comply with EU directions. I will offer some thoughts for the consideration of the Minister of State.

I have in mind section 31 and amendments to the 1992 Environmental Protection Agency Act. A very good public consultation process was undertaken by the EPA in 2010, out of which review came 58 recommendations. I commend the EPA for its work because action has been taken on 43 of these recommendations to date. However, one serious recommendation highlighted the fact that the EPA enjoyed absolute immunity in respect of a failure to discharge its statutory functions. Section 15 of the EPA Act provides that no action or other proceedings shall lie or be maintainable against the agency. I will not read the entire section because I do not have time to do so, but the review group noted that doubts had been expressed about the constitutionality of the EPA's immunity and whether it was compatible with obligations arising under the European Convention on Human Rights. The review group concluded that absolute immunity was difficult to justify in a modern legislative scheme and that the matter should be revised, as appropriate, when the opportunity arose. I took the view that it was appropriate to mention it. In 2011 the then Minister, Mr. Phil Hogan, proposed that he would consider the issue as set out in the implementation plan. He said it was likely that primary legislation would be required and that the matter should be progressed in the latter half of 2013. Two important sections in the 1992 Act should be examined. We have all been reading and studying the review and all know that the job the EPA has to do is vast, but its absolute immunity does not help it in dealing with big business and the public.

Reference has been made to the smokey coal issue, on which the Asthma Society of Ireland has made a submission today. Smokey coal causes considerable air pollution problems for asthmatics, of whom there are 500,000 in the country and of whom one dies every week. Every 26 minutes an asthmatic presents in an accident and emergency department. However, prevention is better than cure. Therefore, the legislation the Department intends to bring forward is welcome. The representatives of the Minister of State told us today that small businesses buying or cutting timber or young people who were trying to be entrepreneurial would not be affected because the burning of timber did not affect air quality. I thank the Minister of State for listening to me.