EU says action against State
over Tara
- motorway only at first stage
By - Jamie Smyth.
The European Commission has said reports that Ireland
faces tens of millions of euro in fines over its plans to
build a motorway close to Tara were exaggerated.
A spokeswoman for environment commissioner Stavros Dimas
said yesterday the commission had so far only sent a
"reasoned opinion" to the Government and there was a long
way to go before fines could be imposed on the State.
However, she said it was the commission's view that the
Government needed to adjust its national monument law and
produce a second impact assessment before any
construction work took place on the motorway.
Earlier this year the commission issued a reasoned
opinion to the Government asking it to carry out a
comprehensive assessment of what impact the road would
have on the Tara Skryne Valley before the proposed M3
motorway road is built in the area.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley also played
down fears that the Government could be hit with tens of
millions of euro in EU fines over the work at Tara.
"I've seen newspaper reports which are just inaccurate .
. . what we have is a reasoned opinion . . . people will
make a response to that and then make a judgment. It [the
EU document] is a 20-page document and there are only
five paragraphs dealing with Lismullin", Mr. Gormley told
Éamon Keane on the Lunchtime show on Newstalk.
A reasoned opinion is the first step in a lengthy EU
process. A fine is usually only imposed if a state
subsequently loses a case at the European Court of
Justice, and then proceeds to ignore the ruling.
© The Irish Times, 31st. August 2007.
Related Articles:
EU Block on M3 "never reached Government".
EU threatens huge fines if Tara M3 work is not
halted.
