Environment policy issues are dealt with at EU level under the Environment Council. The Government is generally represented at Environment Council by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, or a delegated representative.
Matters in relation to the environment that fall within the policy remit of my Department, inter alia biodiversity or water quality, generally arise at Environment Council. My Department therefore liaises with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, as required, to provide briefing for agenda items under my Department's remit.
In the period 27 June 2020 to date, 14 formal Environment Council meetings (all in-person), and 8 informal Environment Council meetings (5 in-person, 3 virtual), have taken place. Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Malcolm Noonan accompanied Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan to two, in person, formal Environment Council meetings over this period, as follows:
Formal Environment Council Meeting, 06 October 2021, Luxembourg
Formal Environment Council Meeting, 20 June 2023, Luxembourg
Details of Environment Council meetings are available on the Council website at the following link
Environment Council configuration (ENVI) - Consilium (europa.eu)
In recognition of the common challenges faced across all Member States in the delivery of sustainable and affordable housing, in addition to the formal Council of the European Union meetings above, I attended a number of high level informal EU Ministerial meetings on housing policy matters under the auspices of various EU Council presidencies, all of which were in-person. Details of these meetings are set out below:
Informal Meeting of Housing Ministers, 8 March 2022, Nice, France
Ministerial conference on combatting homelessness in the EU, 28 February 2022, Paris, France
EU Ministerial meeting on the fight against homelessness, 8 February 2024, Brussels, Belgium.
Informal Meeting of Housing Ministers, 5 March 2024, Liége, Belgium.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend a meeting of EU Housing Ministers in Gijón, Spain on 14 November 2023 and the Assistant Secretary of my Department with responsibility for Housing Policy attended in my place.
