17th November 2004

Environment

Aarhus Convention 

Ciarán Cuffe To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason the international Aarhus Convention Agreement signed on 25 June 1998 has not yet been laid before Dáil Éireann as apparently required under Article 29.5.1 of the Constitution.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Roche):

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.

Ireland’s 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 its 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). Work is continuing in my Department on the transposition into Irish law of these two Directives. Transposition will be required by February 2005 in the case of Directive 2003/4/EC and by June 2005 in the case of Directive 2003/35/EC.

With regard to the Access to Justice Pillar of the Convention, recent developments suggest that it is now less clear as to when and if work undertaken at EU level in drafting a Directive to give effect to this Pillar will be completed. Any such Directive would, in due course, be transposed into national law but my Department is exploring other options to enable the Convention to be ratified in the event that no Directive on the Access to Justice Pillar will be agreed.

When the above work is completed, the instrument of ratification will be submitted to Government and laid before the Oireachtas in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution.