The European Court of Justice has found further directive breaches in Ireland's environmental record.
The latest breach relates to pollution reduction programmes for certain dangerous substances discharged in water supplies.
The court found Ireland's programmes were incomplete, did not address all substances and, regarding phosphorous, certain local measures were geographically limited.
The European Commission has welcomed the ruling because the directive created a framework for dealing with the pollution of water caused by an extensive list of chemicals including heavy metals and phosphorous.
The Green Party's Ciarán Cuffe has accused the Government of a cavalier approach to environmental protection. He said the Environment Minister, Dick Roche, had to take responsibility for serious and sustained criticism from the EU.
However, Minister Roche said many of the breaches found by the court were essentially technical. He cited one example in which regulations dealing with 14 dangerous substances, which came into force in 2001, were four months behind deadline.
