Statement by An Taisce The National Trust for Ireland on settling three Judicial Reviews of permissions associated with the Corrib Gas Pipeline

An Taisce maintains its position that the manner in which the Corrib Gas Development Project has been consented to and constructed is a travesty of European Environmental Law.  That is why we initiated these proceedings.

Rather than pursue these cases in open court, the State  proposed a settlement to An Taisce.  For those of you who have fought for so long and so hard for vindication in relation to the manner in which this development has proceeded; this is your victory. 

At the heart of this settlement is a commitment from the Government to complete outstanding legislative transposition and to engage directly with An Taisce to address compliance with European Environmental Law.  The critical objective for An Taisce – is to ensure what happened in the Corrib project – can never happen again.  This is an opportunity to engage to do just that.  An Taisce will continue to do everything it can to make sure the vulnerabilities in the Irish legislation are addressed.  We will continue our fight to ensure that decision-making and enforcement processes effectively implement the protections afforded the environment under European Environmental Law.

At the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht on September 20^_th. Charles Stanley-Smith, Chair of An Taisce The National Trust for Ireland stated “An Taisce is calling for a Ban on ‘Fracking’ until such time as the People of Ireland can be convinced that it is possible to regulate Fracking, so that it can be undertaken sustainably and as a result there will be no environmental, social or economic harm.”