Consultation on the draft Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) Plan of Action

Since Ireland became subject to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) non-compliance mechanism in December 2013, nine non-compliance cases concerning Ireland have been accepted for consideration by the ACCC. Two were deemed not admissible. All were initiated by communications from the public. Findings in the three cases below were brought to the 7th Meeting of the Parties (MOP) in October 2021 for endorsement. This is the first time that Ireland has had non-compliance findings at the MOP.

• ACCC/C/2013/107
• ACCC/C/2014/112
• ACCC/C/2016/141

The Report of the Compliance Committee in relation to Ireland (ECE/MP.PP/2021/52) was endorsed by the MOP in Decision VII/8i.

In paragraph 5 (a) of decision VII/8i concerning Ireland’s compliance, the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention has requested that Ireland submits to the Committee by 1 July 2022 a plan of action, including a time schedule, addressing the recommendations contained in that decision.

To assist Parties in the preparation of their plan of action, the ACCC held an open session at its seventy-third meeting (13-16 December 2021) to provide guidance and to answer any questions Parties had regarding the form and content of their plan of action.

In light of the questions received at the open session, the ACCC prepared a sample template to assist each Party concerned in preparing its plan of action, including a template for Ireland.

Through this consultation, we are seeking your views on the draft ACCC plan of action.

The closing date for submissions is 5.30pm Tuesday 10 May 2022

Submissions should be sent by email to environmentpolicy@decc.gov.ie or by post to:

ACCC plan of action

Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

Government Buildings

Newtown Road

Wexford

Y35 AP90

We are committed to engaging with stakeholders in a clear, open and transparent manner. Any person or organisation can make a submission in relation to this consultation. All submissions and feedback will be considered before the final version of the Plan of Action is published.

Please note that responses to this consultation are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI), Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007-2018 (AIE) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Please also note that we intend to publish the contents of all submissions received to our consultations on our website. We will redact personal data prior to publication. In responding to this consultation, parties should clearly indicate where their responses contain personal information, commercially sensitive information or confidential information which they would not wish to be released under FOI, AIE or otherwise published.

We would like to draw your attention to our Data Privacy Notice which explains how and when we collect personal data, why we do so and how we treat this information. It also explains your rights in relation to the collection of personal information and how you can exercise those rights.

Industry Submissions

Group/Organisation Submissions

Individual Submissions

Decision Making Table