Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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186. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will outline the Letter of Formal Notice or Reasoned Opinion received by Ireland in respect of EU infringement proceedings for each of the years 2015 to 2024 respectively, outlining the respective EU Directive and the Department responsible. [29657/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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EU infringement proceedings arise when Member States fail to properly transpose EU Directives into national law within the prescribed timeframes, or when the transposition is incomplete or incorrect. These cases are initiated by the European Commission as part of its role as guardian of the Treaties to ensure uniform application of EU law across all Member States.

The Commission follows a structured two-stage process in pursuing infringement cases. Initially, a Letter of Formal Notice (LFN) is issued to the Member State, setting out the Commission's concerns and requesting a response within a specified timeframe, typically two months. If the Commission's concerns are not adequately addressed, the process advances to the second stage with the issuance of a Reasoned Opinion (RO), which formally sets out the legal and factual grounds for the infringement and provides a final opportunity for the Member State to comply before potential referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Over the ten-year period from 2015 to 2024, Ireland received 235 Letters of Formal Notice in respect of EU infringement proceedings. Of these initial cases, 98 subsequently progressed to the Reasoned Opinion stage, indicating that the Commission's initial concerns were not fully resolved through the Member State's response to the Letter of Formal Notice. The following is a tabular overview.