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[Press Release: April 26th, 2005] Waste Ruling by European Court of JusticeFollowing today's ruling by the European Court of Justice which has found that the Irish authorities responsible for enforcing waste laws "maintained a general and persistent approach of tolerance" (para.136) towards breaches of EU and Irish waste law, Deirdre de Burca, Green Party councillor on Wicklow County Council, has claimed that a number of further complaints relating to the legalisation of illegal dumps in Wicklow, in breach of the EU Landfill Directive, have been submitted by local groups to the EU Commission for its opinion, and are likely to form the basis of future legal judgements against the Irish Government."Unfortunately, the consequences of this finding of a "general and persistent failure" to implement waste laws are that future breaches of EU obligations in relation to waste could lead directly to fines against Ireland before the ECJ" says de Burca. "These fines will be paid out of tax-payers money". De Burca took an unsuccessful legal action against Wicklow County Council's decision in 2000 to privatise its waste collection servcies which resulted in the collection of waste by unauthorised operators. One of the twelve complaints which formed the basis of the recent judgement by the European Court of Justice (Complaint 2000/4157) refers to "general waste collection by unlicensed and unregistered private undertakings which were not regulated, at Bray, County Wicklow". De Burca claims that this judgement vindicates her original legal action. The Green councillor claims that the EU Commission is likely to be highly critical of the recent Section 55 Agreement entered into by Wicklow County Council with Cement Roadstone. "This agreement allows Cement Roadstone to develop a legal landfill on its lands at Blessington Co Wicklow, where over 100,000 tonnes of illegal waste were discovered, without having to apply for planning permission" says de Burca. "This certainly conflicts with both the spirit and letter of the EU's Waste Directive". The Green councillor also believes that the current application by Brownfield Restoration to develop a legal landfill on the illegal dump at Whitestown, in West Wicklow would not be acceptable to the EU Commission. de Burca has claimed that the recent discovery that a former municipal dump containing an estimated 200,000 tonnes of rubbish is collapsing into the sea near Bray in County Wicklow will be an important "test case" for the Irish Government. "While coastal erosion is obviously responsible for this problem, Wicklow County Council has statutory responsibility for the after-care of its landfills" says de Burca. "The implementation of a remediation plan for the old dump in this coastal location will cost millions, but inaction on the part of the Department of the Environment and Wicklow County Council is not an option. We will be actively monitoring the official response, and will also liaise with the EU Commission if necessary".
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