Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 96: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will update the House on the work being carried out by his Department in relation to North-South co-operation on environmental issues. [11117/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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My Department, together with the relevant Northern Ireland authorities, is continuing to take forward enhanced North-South co-operation and joint action in a range of areas including the following: work is continuing on the co-ordinated implementation of the EU water framework directive and in particular in relation to the development of common approaches for the typology, monitoring and classification systems to facilitate the reporting and monitoring required for the cross-Border river basins shared with Northern Ireland; my Department, together with the Department of Environment, Northern Ireland, is responsible for implementing the environmental protection and management measure of the EU INTERREG III A North South Programme 2000-2006. So far, 20 cross-Border projects, costing some €24 million, have been approved for part-funding under the programme. Of particular note is an ongoing project, costing an estimated €7.45 million, the objective of which is to strengthen inter-regional capacity for environmental monitoring and management, improve public awareness and participation in water management issues and develop a number of river basin management strategies for cross-Border waters based on best practice in river basin management planning; the North-South market development steering group is continuing its work on the expansion of waste recycling on an all-island basis. Phase 1 of a jointly funded study intended to determine the feasibility of establishing a paper mill on the island of Ireland has recently been completed and is currently being examined; authorities North and South are working together with a view to stamping out illegal movements of waste; an all-island initiative for the recycling of domestic fridges and freezers commenced in February 2004. The initiative was developed by the Environment Departments North and South, in co-operation with local authorities on both sides of the Border. The scheme involves the collection and recycling of waste fridges and freezers and the destruction of ozone depleting substances. The scheme has proved popular with members of the public as local authorities must ensure free access to civic amenity sites for the receipt of fridges and freezers from householders in order to qualify for funding from the Environment Fund. A total of 32 local authorities and 26 district councils are participating in the scheme. In November 2004 it was declared the winner of the UK national recycling awards in the category of best partnership project for recycling. Since the scheme commenced over 122,000 fridges and fridge freezers have been collected for recycling; work is continuing on developing opportunities for information exchange and raising environmental awareness in areas of common interest. The work includes the production or revision of a range of environmental literature, shared use of exhibition material, staff exchange and attendances at network meetings to facilitate communication and sharing of best practice; the fire services cross-Border working group, which functions within the North South ministerial health sector, is continuing to promote cross-Border fire services co-operation. The group assisted the National Safety Council to organise participation by Northern Ireland Fire Brigade in the National Safety Council's fire safety week 2004 activities. This was the third year that this joint approach was taken. This initiative, first mooted at Fire Services Cross Border Working Group meetings, has been positively evaluated and it is intended that it will continue in 2005; my Department's national parks and wildlife service is involved in co-operation with the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland on the management of shared biodiversity resources, and specifically on developing a common approach to both threatened species and invasive alien species; and there is ongoing contact between my Department and the Department of Regional Development in the North for the purpose co-ordinating the implementation of the cross-Border aspects of the national spatial strategy and the regional development strategy for Northern Ireland.