Galway Bay fm newsroom - Ireland could be facing fines of up to 2 million euro over alleged non-compliance with an EU judgement on Derrybrien wind farm.
The European Commission is taking Ireland back to the EU's Court of Justice over alleged failures to comply with a previous judgement on the site.
The commission claims an environmental impact assessment was never properly conducted - and is now seeking a lump sum payment of 1.7 million euro.
The European Commission is taking Ireland back to the Court of Justice of the EU for its failure to comply with part of a court judgement on July 3rd, 2008.
It found that Ireland had failed to carry out an environmental impact statement for the 70 turbine wind farm - the largest of its kind in Ireland.
Under EU rules, impact assessments of certain public and private projects on the environment are required before the commencement of construction.
Now, some 13 years since it was built, it's alleged a sufficient impact assessment has still not been conducted at Derrybrien wind farm.
The European Commission says the scale of the development and its sensitive moorland hilltop location mean its operation continue to have an impact locally.
It further states the site could still benefit from mitigation and remediation measures, but these can be only be identified following an assessment.
The European Commission is now requesting the Court of Justice to impose a minimum lump sum payment of 1.7 million euro.
It's also proposing a daily penalty payment of over 12 thousand euro - if full compliance is not achieved by the date when the court issues its ruling.
