Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 166: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the parts of the Aarhus Convention Agreement and its associated EU Directives 2003/4/EC and 2003/35/EC which have been ratified or transposed into Irish law to date; if he will set each part of the Aarhus Convention Agreement and its associated EU Directives 2003/4/EC and 2003/35/EC which have been ratified or transposed into Irish law; the date on which this occurred; the legislative instrument used to do this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42594/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland signed the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters on 25 June 1998. Progress towards ratification of the Convention is closely aligned with work at EU level. To date, the European Union has adopted two directives as part of the ratification process for the Convention. These deal with public access to environmental information (2003/4/EC) and public participation in certain environmental decision-making procedures (2003/35/EC). Ratification of the Convention will take place after these Directives have been transposed into Irish Law.

Work is continuing in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with regard to the transposition of these two Directives and will be completed as soon as possible. When the above work on transposition is completed, the instrument of ratification of the Aarhus Convention will be submitted to Government and laid before the Dáil.