8 November 2006

Environment

Cross-border Cooperation on Environmental Matters

Ciarán Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the steps his Department has taken to ensure cooperation with environmental agencies in Northern Ireland could be enhanced, in view of environmental NGO and OECD recommendations that, where possible, environmental issues should be dealt with by cross-Border mechanisms.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Roche):  
I am well aware of the importance of cross-border co-operation on environmental matters. On 2 October 2006 I met with my Northern Ireland counterpart Minister David Cairns to discuss issues of common interest, in particular biodiversity, waste management and spatial planning. We acknowledged the significant on-going North/South co-operation between our Departments and agencies and looked forward to building on this co-operation in the period ahead for the mutual benefit of communities North and South.

My Department together with the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland and the relevant agencies concerned is taking forward a number of initiatives involving enhanced co-operation and joint action on an all-island and cross-border basis in a range of areas including waste management, water quality management, natural heritage, information and awareness, environmental research, spatial planning, regional development, fire services and emergency planning. Some of the more notable of these include:

Co-ordinated implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive;

Joint implementation of the environmental protection and management measure of the EU Interreg IIIA North/South Programme 2000-2006 which is providing support for 18 cross-border projects, costing some €20m;

The expansion of waste recycling on an all-island basis by the North/South Market Development Steering Group. Phase 1 of a jointly funded North-South study on the feasibility of establishing a paper mill on the island of Ireland was published in August 2006. Business sector interest in the proposal is currently being assessed;

Activities aimed at tackling illegal movements of waste;

The management of shared biodiversity resources, and specifically the development of a common approach to both threatened species and invasive alien species;

A collaborative framework for joint action in implementing the cross-border aspects of the National Spatial Strategy and the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland;

A North West Gateway initiative to provide a co-ordinated, cross-border approach to the development of the North West region.

The focus of our work together has been on achieving the best environmental outcomes from our co-operative efforts. Our discussions did not encompass the question of an all-Ireland Environmental Protection Agency.