merrion street

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr Phil Hogan TD, today (Friday 13 January) strenuously rejected the claim made by Deputy Éamon Ó’Cuív that the Minister has mislead the Dáil in relation to the timeline for the enactment of the Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011.

The Bill comprises Ireland’s response to a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling against Ireland in relation to septic tanks and other on-site waste water treatment systems. The ruling, which found that Ireland has failed to transpose articles 4 and 8 of the Waste Directive, was issued by the ECJ on 29 October 2009.

Minister Hogan has given priority to the drafting of the legislation in order to comply with ECJ ruling and the Bill was published on 3 November 2011.

On 23 November 2011, the European Commission submitted an application to the ECJ seeking the imposition of a lump-sum penalty of €2.7 million and daily fines of more than €26,000 against Ireland for failing to comply with the ruling. In its submission, the Commission argued that more than enough time had elapsed since the ruling and that the Irish authorities should have achieved compliance already.

In accordance with ECJ procedures, Member States are given an opportunity to submit a rejoinder to the Commission’s application, setting out the reasons why fines and penalties should not be imposed. The deadline for the submission of Ireland’s rejoinder in this case is 3 February 2012. This will be the final opportunity for Ireland to communicate with the Court before it considers the Commission’s application.

The central strand of Ireland’s defence in this case will be that the necessary legislative measures have been put in place. It is for this reason that the deadline of 3 February for enactment of the legislation is so important. The Minister is determined to ensure the necessary measures are in place by the time Ireland submits its rejoinder to the ECJ in order to support the defence being presented to the Commission’s application.