Vol. 429 No. 1
8 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for the Environment the efforts, if any, he has made to ensure greater co-ordination between local authorities in relation to waste management and disposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
(Wexford): Co-ordination arrangements between some local authorities in relation to waste management are already in place. I intend that the new waste Bill will embody provisions designed to facilitate such arrangements.
The Discussion Paper on Waste published by my Department in July 1992 referred to the advantages of joint provision, agency arrangements and regionalisation of waste management services currently provided by individual local authorities. The number of local authority landfill sites decreased by 25 per cent between 1984 and 1989, so that a trend towards consolidation of services is already well established.
I am somewhat disturbed at the present mesh of landfill sites, although the number of sites may have decreased. The priority under EC guidelines is prevention, second, recycling and re-use and, finally, disposal. In regard to co-ordination arrangements between local authorities, I hope this is the road we will follow. Instead of increasing the number of landfill sites we should be considering how to prevent waste, recycle and reuse it. When this is done, we can then talk about disposal, which is a totally different question.
(Wexford): We are already thinking along these lines. The waste Bill will be introduced towards the end of the year; there will also be a strategy for recycling. These issues are being looked at. For a number of years all waste in Dublin Corporation, Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire Borough areas has been disposed of in landfill sites in the county. Under the waste Bill we will be urging more co-operation between local authorities, which can prove very difficult to achieve at times.
If, for example, we want to send waste from Wexford into Waterford, I doubt that it would be acceptable. It is an emotive issue. The siting of local authority landfills in other jurisdictions will be subject to normal planning and environmental impact assessment requirements. It is the environmental suitability of a site rather than the local authority jurisdiction which has priority.
This question deals with greater co-operation between local authorities on the question of waste disposal. I would ask for greater co-operation between the Minister's Department and local authorities. In my constituency last year we had the disastrous dumping of 12,000 tonnes of charred meat on a greatly elevated site called Creggahill in Roscommon. When I ask questions here in the Dáil, the Minister tells me that it is not his responsibility. When I ask the county manager in County Roscommon, he is inclined to pass the buck to the Minister. Nevertheless, this waste was obviously dumped in contravention of the EC ground water Directive.
The Deputy is raising a very specific matter worthy of a separate question.
There is a general principle here, Sir. Now that the question has been raised, what responsibility does the Minister have in relation to the disposal of dangerous waste of this kind?
(Wexford): I would hope that we can make provision in the new waste Bill for the type of situation that developed in Roscommon. Obviously that was an emergency at the time and the local authorities were not prepared for it. I would welcome suggestions from all sides of the House as to how we could have defined sites available for emergencies such as that in the future so that we would not have the kind of rows that we have had in the past.
I am glad the Minister is being co-operative.
Is the Minister aware that there is now a crisis in Dublin with regard to waste management and disposal resulting in Dublin County Council proposing to commit itself to a 20-year dump in north Kildare, the constituency of the Minister's colleague? Will he consider bringing forward the waste management legislation and the proposals regarding the recycling strategy so that those will be in place in advance of any commitment to a 20-year dump at Kill in order to avoid the classic case of the door being shut after the horse has bolted? Will the Minister bring forward the legislation to avoid a situation where a major dump is to be located in north Kildare?
Here we are having reference to the site at Kill which, again, is a separate matter.
(Wexford): The proposed landfill at Kill is subject to the normal planning and environmental impact assessment requirements and I do not think it is for me to make any comment on that at present. The management of waste disposal is the responsibility of Dublin Corporation and Dublin County Council.
The Minister has referred to environmental impact assessment several times. Surely here rests much of the problem in the absence of a national plan, particularly since local authorities are both judge and jury on the question of landfill sites. Does the Minister have any plans to ensure that agencies promoting programmes of one kind or another insist that these assessments are carried out by independent bodies and not by the agency or local authority itself? Until we face up to that anomaly in our environmental impact assessment legislation, effectively we are talking around the subject because one local authority will take one view of environmental impact assessment which may differ considerably from that of the neighbouring authority. Has the Minister any plans to rectify that and ensure independent assessments of projects such as landfill sites?
(Wexford): All environmental impact assessments are carried out to the highest standard and with full public knowledge and adequate notice to the public, and I see no serious problems in that area.
The methodology is different.
(Wexford): We would hope that money would be available from the Cohesion Fund for landfill sites and we would expect local authorities to make application through the Department for that.
The Minister has referred a number of times to landfill sites. What provision will be made, whether at national or local level, for the maintenance of landfill sites which are full and closed and which, I believe, we will be directed to maintain for a period of up to 40 years?
(Wexford): Under the Environmental Protection Agency legislation there are very strict regulations for the closing down of landfill sites and the monitoring of such sites thereafter.
When will we see some activity on it?
(Wexford): It is going on.
They are still foostering at the entrance to Johnstown Castle at the moment.
Many local authorities are at crisis point in trying to find suitable locations for waste disposal. Does the Department intend to provide funding to local authorities so that they need not pursue the traditional method of providing a landfill and will be able to use the new technology for waste disposal?
(Wexford): Financial assistance will be available from the Cohesion Fund in relation to a range of environmental products, including waste disposal infrastructure proposals, and the Department will be encouraging county councils, local authorities, etc., to make application if they are in need of landfill sites. Already some county councils and local authorities have done that.
The portfolio the Minister holds is one of the most critical since the crisis that is brewing is becoming more serious day by day. Will the Minister be liaising with other members of the Cabinet on the question of waste reduction? I know, for certain, that in the whole area of industry the encouragement contained in legislation is very important in choosing the type of packaging and, following on from that, the type of waste that is created. It is imperative that the Minister uses every means at his disposal at that stage. Does he intend to do that so that we do not need to deal with disposal if at all possible?
(Wexford): It is a commitment in the Programme for Government that a waste management policy will be introduced. Certainly that could not be introduced properly without the full co-operation of the other Departments within Government.
