Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 303: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 58 and 59 of 12 October 2004, the various Seveso establishments that have produced the requisite safety report in accordance with Article 9 of Council Directive 96/82/EC, together with the date each such establishment complied with the said article; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5007/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Council Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances has been transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances) Regulations 2000 (S.I. No. 476 of 2000), as amended by the European Communities (Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances)(Amendment) Regulations 2003 — SI 402 of 2003. A further directive, 2003/105/EC on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances, is due to be transposed into Irish law by 1 July 2005.

The directive and transposition regulations require that a safety report be produced if the inventory of dangerous substances exceeds stated thresholds in Annexe 1 of the directive. The report must address in detail: the nature of the establishment and its surrounding environment; the character of the dangerous substances and their processing; the extent and severity of potential major accidents; emergency planning; and the company's safety management system. The production of such reports often requires the use by a company of external specialist expertise to conduct the necessary consequence and risk assessment.

The following table shows the dates that safety reports were received from the various establishments that are, or were, subject to the requirement to produce a safety report. Following their receipt they have been subject to a detailed assessment and additional information or clarification has been sought as necessary. Safety reports have not been requested from those establishments, which will no longer be top tier sites when Directive 2003/105/EC comes into force; this is required of the member states before 1 July 2005. The basis for this decision was that by the time the reports would have been produced and evaluated the relevant establishments would have been close to or already outside the legal requirement for such a report.