FIE have written to Mary MacAlesse requesting her to convene the Council of State to consider referring the new Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality.

The Supreme Court then tests its constitutionality in toto and the President may not sign the bill into law if it is found to be unconstitutional. The President invoked this power over the Planning Bill 1999's social housing provisions.

Amendments to Section 50 of the Bill, which ‘purports to implement the European legislation encouraging access to justice', does the opposite. Legal advice the organisation has received confirms that what the amendment does is prevent NGOs or others from receiving their costs when litigating environmental issues, even if they win.

The only exceptions will require the litigant to show that the matter is of "Public Importance" AND that there are "Special Circumstances" AND that it is "in the Interests of Justice" to make such an award of Costs. This is a clear barrier to access to justice.

While much of the new legislation is forward thinking, the inclusion of this amendment to the Act will have devastating consequences for environmental justice in Ireland.

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 Read our clarification

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‘This campaign mocks tele-conferencing and instead encourages those involved in business to travel to hotels around Ireland for their meetings. This is in direct contradiction to the Government Policy published this year ‘SmarterTravel', which seeks to use broadband and modern telephone rather than contributing to Ireland's transport carbon footprint.'

READ THE LETTER | THE PRESS RELEASE

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Between the need to reduce - rather than increase - air travel and the pressing need to conserve biodiversity, this decision is most welcome.

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‘Citizens do not expect that biodiversity, soils, and water will be damaged by adverse management practices such as the burning of scrub, removal of field boundaries and inadequate riparian buffer zones which support many native species of flora and fauna', they write.

The removal of scrub by burning is particularly damaging - and voluntary schemes are not sufficient to address these issues which must be incorporated into Area Aid conditions.

Read the (short) submission

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In our 2 page submission to the current review of the Environmental Protection Agency, we identify 10 key issues that must be addressed – oversight by the Ombudsman, open complaints, consolidated legislation, transparent procedures, pro active enforcement, addressing cumulative impacts, meaningful penalties, and an end to the retention culture– as well as better definition of its educational role. We quote Dan Boyle:

 "I believe that if we had a proper environmental body, a body in which the public had confidence and in which there existed a widespread belief that our environment was being properly protected, then many of our citizens should not feel the need of having to go outside and seek international support for the type of environmental protection we should be doing ourselves."

Read The Submission

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New restrictions on the Single Payments Scheme to farmers are contributing to the wildfires that have devastated thousands of hectares of Ireland’s countryside, according to 19 Irish environmental groups. In a letter today to the Minister for Agriculture, we point out that as a result of a recent ‘Health Check’ of the Single Payments Scheme made to farmers there is now an economic incentive for farmers to burn scrub land.

While hedgerows are protected, we point out that new rules require areas of scrub and even any part of hedgerows growing into fields to be removed or marked on the farmer’s application and excluded from payments. Only ‘utilisable areas’ are eligible for payment. The farmers have been warned that areal photography and satellite images will be used in the inspections required by the European Commission. We have asked the Minister to ensure the Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture Single Payments Unit work together to provide a scheme to promote the management of these scrub areas.

Letter to the Minister   |   Submission to the Forest Service     |  Press Release    | Radio Debate with the IFA [20 mb]

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The Report lists the sources in Ireland of Geoinfomatics - the acquiring, analyzing and visualizing of spatial electronic data. It is accompanied by a Register of contacts for these sources and includes sections on free satellite imagery and free software.

In calling for free for use and re-use of OSI raw data, FIE says ‘The new commercial online services recently announce by Minister Lenihan for the OSI will only further hold back critical economic and environmental initiatives in one of the most rapidly evolving scientific fields'.

In support of the call, the authors cite the English change in policy announced on April 1, 2010 by which almost all unrefined UK OS mapping data is now being made freely available on the internet. English research found that while their OSI would need a subsidy from central government to make up for the loss in revenue, this would be outweighed by a gain of around £168m.

REPORT ON GEOINFORMATICS IN IRELAND | REGISTER | UK REFERENCES

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Aviation fuel remains entirely untaxed - itself an enormous competitive advantage - because we can reach no international agreement. In these circumstances, the only way that we can control consumer behaviour is through airport and travel taxes.

The letter also quotes reports showing that Government subsidies for rural airports - which cost the taxpayer up to €17 million a year and capital grants of another €87 million - are without justification.

Read the Letter | the Press Release

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Expensive and often unaffordable undertakings as to costs requiring large deposits is also a ‘serious impediment to the use of such injunctions, which are essential for temporarily halting operations that may have a potentially damaging impact on the environment while their legality is being assessed.'

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As Earth Hour 2010 looms closer, a schools ‘virtual torch relay' was launched by the Lord Mayor of Dublin last week at a school in Artane and will end with in a school in Belfast where the Lord Mayor of Belfast will be waiting. The Minister for the Environment launched Earth Hour nationally at a screening of the Age of Stupid in the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin. And on the night, - aside from the darkening of national monuments and homes around the country - Temple Bar will celebrate Earth Hour with a Trad Night by candlelight. Visit the global Earth Hour page to sign up and help Ireland join more than 100 countries and a billion people in sending a message for climate change action to our leaders.

Read about how the Minister for the Environments speech clashes with Earth Hour   |  Earth Hour Global Page | Irish Earth Hour Page

Switch off your lights for Earth Hour 2010

Saturday 27 March, 8.30pm - 9.30pm

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The ‘Scientific Advisor' letter is clearly lacking in scientific objectivity, let alone any serious analysis or consideration of potential adverse environmental impacts. It reads, frankly, like the product of a public relations department.

FIE is seeking answers to 3 questions:

Is compulsory purchase required by the government of the mountain valleys?
Is a ‘bypass' of the planning legislation proposed?
Must the national transmission grid be radically redesigned?

‘A you can imagine', wrote one senior Department of Energy official, ‘there would also be very substantial geological, geophysical, environmental, habitat and social issues to be dealt with, even before you consider the fact that the interconnector with other EU markets would deliver the same benefits at a fraction of the price.'

Read the ‘Scientific Advisor's' letter . | Read the critique in The Journal ‘Sustainability'. | Read the Sunday Times

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The success of a voluntary local environmental group in protecting this area from development highlights the failure of the National Parks and Wildlife Service to perform its statutory function. Ireland current faces 33 court proceedings in the European Court of Justice for environmental failings. 13 of these have been returned to the Court seeking daily fines, 4 more than when the current Minister for the Environment took office. Press Release.

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The film is being launched today on YouTube to coincide with campaign events around the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada. The Pure Salmon Campaign is on the ground to highlight the fact that 90% of Canadian salmon farms are owned by Norwegian companies. Find about the rally this Saturday.

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See our latest slide show | Read our letter to the Minister | Read the COFORD reply

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Read the (rejected) appeal.

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After the disappointment of Copenhagen, Earth Hour is the one hour when people across the globe can show how by working together we can make a difference in the fight against climate change. March the 27 at 8.30 PM...

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As Dunne's Stores are given leave by the High Court to seek to quash the assessment of the plastic bag levy claimed for the accounting periods from July 2004 to June 2008, FIE has called the Minister's attention to the failure of the Regulatory Impact Analysis [RIA] undertaken by the Department of the Environment on the levy in 2008. Not only does the RIA exclude consideration of paper bags in its terms of reference (even though they are worse for the environment in many key aspects).

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