Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 120: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will make a statement in relation to the recent European Court of Justice judgment against the State in relation to the failure of the State to fulfil obligations under various articles of the EU waste framework directive. [16517/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland is now required to take the steps necessary to comply with the recent judgment of the European Court of Justice on the waste framework directive and to communicate our response to the Commission within three months of receiving the formal communication from it concerning the outcome of the case.

Ireland has not yet received this communication. Once it is received we will examine it carefully, formulate our national response, and discuss this with the Commission to ensure that our implementation plan meets the directive's requirements. My intention is to have the judgment studied by a high level group of officials from my Department, the Office of Environmental Enforcement, the local authorities and also with the assistance, as appropriate, of the Office of the Attorney General. Where gaps are identified in our current control regime these will be urgently rectified.

The ECJ case focused on 12 different complaints received by the European Commission between 1997 and 2000, involving some 18 waste disposal incidents, and one of the primary elements in the response will be to set out the current situation in each of the situations concerned with the aim of demonstrating full compliance with the waste framework directive in each case.

Since the period covered by these complaints, Ireland's waste regulatory regime has been brought up to modern standards. This was acknowledged by the OECD in its 2000 Environmental Performance Review of Ireland which noted that Ireland had a "modern and coherent body of environmental law". In addition, we have made major progress in modernising our waste infrastructure and services, including our capacity to deliver effective enforcement. In this regard a key initiative was the establishment of the Office of Environmental Enforcement just over one year ago.

It should also be taken from the judgment that Ireland needs to continue with the task of constructing a fully integrated waste management system, incorporating policies and infrastructure to support waste reduction, recovery and recycling so as to reduce greatly our reliance on landfill.