John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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My Department has prepared a Screening Regulatory Impact Analysis on the options for transposing the EU Environmental Liability Directive. This document is available on my Department's website (www.environ.ie). Preparatory work on drafting the legal instrument for transposing the Directive is underway in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. I will publish the draft instrument for public consultation as soon as possible.

I do not intend to transpose the Directive so as to require operators to underwrite their activities by way of financial security, such as insurance, at this time.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 898 and 899 together.

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 and, in that context, 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).

Regulations transposing the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Directive 2003/4/EC were signed and came into effect on 1 May 2007.

The process to transpose Directive 2003/35/EC is well advanced with legislation completed to amend the majority of the relevant consent systems pertaining to that Directive within the Irish legislative framework. Work is continuing on the outstanding issues, and will be finalised by the Departments concerned at the earliest possible date.

Upon completion of the full transposition of Directive 2003/35/EC, I, along with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, will ensure that the instrument of ratification of the Aarhus Convention will be submitted to Government and laid before the Dáil.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 900: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the input or relevance, following the ruling by the European Court of Justice on 3 July 2008 that the Government failed to comply with an EU directive requiring environmental impact assessments to be carried out on all building projects expected to impact on the environment, this decision has on the two motions passed without debate on the Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2008 on 3 July 2008 and 26 June 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28466/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I refer to the reply to Question No. 39 of 9 July 2008. The European Court of Justice issued its judgement in the case reference C-215/06 on Thursday 3 July. The case had two aspects relating to:

how the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (85/337/EEC as amended by 97/11/EC) is affected by the availability of retention planning permission under Irish legislation; and

the implementation of the EIA Directive in respect of a wind-farm at Derrybrien, County Galway.

These matters are not related to the recent amendments to the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, which were debated fully in the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Heritage and Local Government and approved by the Oireachtas, in the form of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2008.

The position remains that under Part X of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and Part 10 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, a planning application in respect of a development or class of development falling within the scope of Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended, must be accompanied by an appropriate environmental impact statement. The carrying out of unauthorised development is an offence under the Act.