The European Commission is to prosecute Ireland for failing to stop nitrate pollution from farms affecting rivers and lakes.
The Commission said yesterday that Ireland was the only EU member-state that has not designated any nitrate-vulnerable zones. This is despite evidence that many inland and coastal waters were suffering from agricultural pollution.
Ten years ago, EU member-states approved the European Nitrates Directive requiring all countries to identify within two years nitrate-polluted waters and designate vulnerable zones.
Action programmes to control nitrate pollution from farms were to be drawn up by the end of 1995.
Yet, because the Government has not identified any vulnerable zones, it has not proposed any action to deal with the problem.
In a statement yesterday, the Commission drew attention to a "steady and worrying decline" in Irish water quality.
"It is clear that the Irish authorities have, over the years, taken an unjustifiably restrictive approach to the identification of nitrate-polluted waters.
"For example, in Co Waterford, in an area where it is proposed to intensify pig production, nitrate-polluted ground waters used for small drinking water supplies have not been identified by the local authority, although the directive does not allow for such exclusions.
"By not identifying and designating, Ireland has avoided preparing action programmes, and the Commission is challenging the absence of these programmes," the statement said.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said: "The process of designating nitrate-vulnerable zones is now well advanced and we are confident that such designations will be made well before the end of the year."
While the Commission is also taking action over nitrates against Belgium, Spain and Portugal, the action against Ireland is the most serious.
If the case against Ireland comes to court, the Commission is expected to ask for a financial penalty to be imposed on the Government.
The court has previously imposed daily fines until member-states fulfilled their responsibilities under EU law.
Commenting on the action over nitrates, the Environment Commissioner, Ms Margot Wallstrom, said she regretted legal action was necessary to force member-states to implement rules to which they had themselves agreed.
"There are still too many member-states dragging their feet when it comes to reducing nitrate pollution despite their commitments under this directive. I regret that Commission enforcement action is necessary to draw attention to this deficit."
The Commission's growing exasperation with Ireland's poor record in implementing environmental laws surfaced earlier this week in a warning over the Government's failure to implement rules on the disposal of waste oils.
The Waste Oil Directive is designed to create a harmonised system for the collection, treatment, storage and disposal of waste oils, such as lubricant oils for vehicles, oils for various types of engines and gearbox oils. The directive also aims to protect the environment against the harmful effects of such operations.
Waste oils can cause cancer and can contaminate soil and rivers. The Commission claims that one litre of waste oil can contaminate up to 1,000,000 litres of drinking water.
