Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 255: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland is the only EU State not to ratify the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters; if the treaty was laid before Dáil Éireann; if, close to the tenth anniversary of the treaty, Ireland is the sole European Union country that has not ratified the Convention; and if so, the reason this is the case. [21790/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, 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. All other EU Member States are parties to the Convention.

Amending legislation is required in order to complete the remaining steps necessary for ratification by Ireland. This will deal with the consent procedures in relation to: the Fisheries Act 1980; the Foreshore Act 1993; the Dumping at Sea Acts 1996 to 2006; and the Arterial Drainage Acts 1945 and 1995.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is working with the concerned Ministers on the outstanding issues, which will be finalised at the earliest possible date. Once the necessary legislative provisions are in place, Government approval for the ratification of the Convention will be sought.