Paying for Pollution

The revelation that the European Commission is actively examining no fewer than 111 complaints against Ireland for alleged breaches…

The revelation that the European Commission is actively examining no fewer than 111 complaints against Ireland for alleged breaches of EU environmental legislation can hardly be counted as good news on the day when the Environment Commissioner, Ms Margot Wallstrom, meets the Minister for the Environment, Mr Noel Dempsey.

A rap on the knuckles for Mr Dempsey or, at least, some tough talking would appear to be the appropriate response from the Swedish-born Commissioner - particularly when it appears that some of the letters from her legal unit in Brussels have not even received the courtesy of a reply from the Minister's department.

The Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, may be indulging in party politics by holding a press conference to indict the Government on its environmental record on the same day as Ms Wallstrom flew in to Dublin. But there can be no doubt that she has performed a public service in using the Freedom of Information Act to unearth details of the correspondence that has passed between Dublin and Brussels on the complaints lodged by Irish citizens against the State over its environmental performance, ranging from air pollution to habitat protection and, most seriously of all, waste management.

Ms Wallstrom will be aware of the recent revelations about the scale of illegal dumping in Co Wicklow, in particular; indeed, this appalling situation has already been added to the Commission's grim schedule lodged with the European Court of Justice before Christmas. If Ireland is convicted, which now seems more likely than not, the Government - that is, taxpayers - could face substantial fines for failing to fulfil its environmental responsibilities.

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Increasingly, the EU is moving towards applying the "polluter pays" principle across the board. New legislation being discussed in Brussels would impose an obligation on industry to pay for the costs of cleaning up environmental damage. In Ireland's case, industry must certainly include the agricultural sector, which is largely responsible for the nitrate pollution that is suffocating life in far too many rivers and lakes. That is why it ill behoves the newly-elected president of the Irish Farmers'Association, Mr John Dillon, to argue so strongly against designating the entire State as a nitrate-sensitive area.