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EC hits out at Irish
Page 17
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THE EUROPEAN Commission has criticised the Irish government for not preventing the widespread dumping of illegal waste in Northern Ireland."Since 2003, it appears that the Irish authorities have been stepping up efforts to combat illegal waste activities," says Javier Ruiz-Tomas of the DirectorateGeneral, Environment.
"However," he adds, "the Commission is not convinced as to the sufficiency of these efforts to date."
The EC has begun proceedings against the Irish government for allegedly breaching European waste legislation, as a result of an official complaint from DUP Assembly member Edwin Poots.
Northern Ireland's Department of the Environment estimates at least 250,000 tonnes of waste from the Republic have been illegally dumped in the North.
Poots is currently seeking a meeting with Northern Irish Environment Minister Angela Smith, whom he accused of failing to tackle the problem.
"I will be asking that her Department supply the European Commission with the evidence they have gathered on illegal dumping to ensure the European Commission is fully aware of the extent of this problem," he says.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment refused to say if it would make the evidence available to the EC.