EU vs Ireland
Now that there is a sitting coalition in government guess what? There is Opposition! No sooner had Bertie bought off the Independents and placated the Greens than Dublin Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa published a condemnation of the handling of the shellfish directive handed down by the EU in 1979!
As noted earlier in the blog Much Ado… it is incumbent upon the politicians to avoid some of these heavy fines coming down the road at us. In the statement published on the 14th of June De Rossa accuses the government of prevarication, procrastination might be a better choice of word as this and some of the other directives were levelled at Ireland as many as a dozen years ago, in it’s inability to get the finger out on the issue.
In addition to the shellfish directive there are other outstanding violations in the areas of dairy quotas, water pollution, animal testing, and illegal fishing to list a few totalling costs in fines of over €40 billion! With other legal actions concerning the environment, farming and the construction industry the total in fines could be doubled if some resolutions are not found soon!
