The European Court of Justice has condemned Ireland for failing to comply with EU rules for protecting endangered species and plants.
The court ruled yesterday that the Government breached the rules by failing to provide the European Commission with a list of sites to be identified as special areas of conservation.
In a nine-page judgment, the five judges recalled that the Commission first warned the government about its failure to provide a list of sites in April 1996.
The government claimed that the delay was necessary to consult widely interested parties before identifying sites for protection.
The case refers to the Habitats Directive, agreed by all member-states in 1992, aimed at conserving natural habitats and wild fauna and flora in the EU.
The directive envisaged a European network of special areas of conservation, with each member-state proposing a list of sites to be included in the network.
By the end of 1998 the Government had submitted a partial list, identifying 48 sites as natural habitats in need of protection. But the Commission complained that the Irish list was inadequate, scientifically and geographically.
By the start of this year the Government's list of sites had grown to 362, but there were so many provisos that the Commission again said it was inadequate.
The court found that Ireland had failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law, and the Government was ordered to bear the costs of the action.
A Fine Gael MEP, Ms Avril Doyle, said the judgment highlighted the Government's cavalier approach to EU directives and reflected the Eurosceptic approach of the Minister responsible, Ms de Valera.
"The Minister claims to want proper consultation with all parties concerned and is annoyed that Brussels fails to understand this approach.
"Yet Minister de Valera has only managed to attend two of the last six European Council meetings.
"The Minister is in office for over four years. How long more does she need to get her act together?" she said.
A Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, welcomed the court's ruling and called on the Government to act immediately to protect the sites already listed and to identify further sites.
"The Government has no excuse whatsoever. It had three years to comply with the Habitats Directive but effectively it has had nine years since 1992 and it still failed to do so in a satisfactory manner.
"Even now, the Commission is still not satisfied with the number of sites submitted," she said.
