Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 29 Mar 1995

Vol. 451 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - County Monaghan Environmental Problems.

Mr. Leonard

I requested permission to raise this matter on the Adjournment because of a reply I received to a question I tabled to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry yesterday. I asked him when he will provide funding to deal with the environmental problems in Country Monaghan as outlined in the farm waste study financed by the 1991-93 INTERREG allocation. The Minister's reply stated:

I understand that an application has been made to the Department of Energy by private sector interests to treat farm waste on a commercial basis and to supply electricity generated from the process to the Electricity Supply Board. Monaghan County Council, who commissioned the farm waste study referred to, are awaiting the outcome of this application before considering the matter further.

In the circumstances the question of funding by my Department for the processing of farm waste does not arise at present.

Monaghan County Council are not awaiting the outcome of that report. The council's technical officers are aware of the outcome since the Department of Energy issued its press release on 7 March and I informed them the application to generate farm waste, namely, poultry litter, mushroom waste and compost, was unsuccessful. This was a great disappointment to the people in County Monaghan where there is also a serious problem with pig slurry. The farm waste study clearly demonstrates that it could be difficult to maintain the present level of production, not to mention the proposed expansions unless a system for recycling waste is put in place.

The Department of Energy and the ESB initiated an alternative energy requirement competition last year for the provisions of 75 megawatts with a breakdown of 30 megawatts for windfarm, 20 for combined heat and power, 15 for biomas waste and 10 for small scale hydro schemes. As a result of the competition announced on 7 March, 34 proposals were selected to be offered power purchase agreements, but the Monaghan application was unsuccessful. The breakdown is interesting, it included ten windfarm, eight combined heat and power from hospitals, Guinness, McArdles and the breweries, five liquified fossil gas from Wimpey dumps and landfills and one waste 150 kilowatt.

I could not understand why Monaghan County Council's application was unsuccessful, but in reply to a question to the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications which I tabled today, the Minister stated:

The sole criterion for the selection of projects in the alternative energy requirement competition was the amount of grant requested by project applicants per unit of electricity output. There was no scope in the scheme to take into account other issues such as local environmental benefits, job creation potential nor the origin of project proposals.

That is disgraceful for an area that provides more jobs per capita in the food processing sector than any other part of the country.

I do not blame this Minister any more than other Ministers. In recent years there has been a complete breakdown in communications between the Departments of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Transport, Energy and Communications, Tourism and Trade and the Environment who, from a tourism point of view, should have an interest in dealing with excessive levels of farm waste. A Teagasc report clearly indicated a serious difficulty in this area. It is disgraceful that companies such as Wimpey and Guinness are considered more important than areas of Monaghan that are suffering serious environmental problems.

Ms Bhreathnach

I am replying to the debate on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry. The County Monaghan farm waste study which was commissioned by Monaghan County Council was carried out by Teagasc. The report with recommendations was officially launched in April 1994. The study's recommendations cover a range of issues, the implementation of which fall to be considered, as appropriate, by the Departments and State Bodies concerned, by Monaghan County Council, and by the waste producers. The recommendations included a feasibility study to evaluate possibilities for a centralised agricultural waste processing facility, environmental targets for water quality and phosphorous surpluses, waste management and nutrient management planning on farms, upgrade waste management facilities on farms, a unified approach from mushroom industry to management of spent compost, and a survey of soils and landscapes.

Monaghan County Council sought funding to carry out a feasibility study for a centralised waste processing utility in County Monaghan. The estimated cost is £100,000 to £200,000. Under INTERREG II — recently approved — an allocation of some £50,000 has been earmarked for this study.

Regarding agriculture, the Government is conscious of the need to tackle this source of pollution and the main measures being used are the rural environment protection scheme, part of CAP reform which provides grant-aid to farmers for implementing environmentally friendly farming practices — the scheme includes waste management planning and limits on the application of nitrogen and phosphorous in the interest of improving water quality; a scheme of investment aid for the control of farm pollution — this involves provision of waste storage facilities and fodder storage facilities and includes waste disposal conditions restricting spreading of waste between 1 November and 31 January and the emptying of storage tanks by 31 October each year; and a code of good agricultural practice is being prepared which will be circulated to all farmers later this year. A composting organic fertiliser processing plant in County Monaghan was opened in October 1994. This project uses poultry manure to produce a fertiliser used by a number of golf clubs and municipal authorities in the UK. It obtained financial assistance from INTERREG, Forbairt and Enterprise Equity. Under this Department's Operational Programme for Agriculture, Rural Development and Forestry 1994-99, the processing of farm waste could be considered on a pilot basis in order to assess the feasibility of establishing waste treatment facilities on a commercial scale.

In June and July 1994, the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications introduced a scheme for the use of non-fossil fuels, including recycled wastes, in electricity generation and I understand that Monaghan County Council made an outline application to the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications to supply electricity to the ESB. Soon afterwards, an alternative proposal to treat the waste on a commercial basis and supply electricity to the ESB came from the private sector. When the county council became aware of this proposal, which appeared somewhat less complex and more profitable than their own, they withdrew their outline application and informed the ESB of the position.

I understand that Monaghan County Council still awaits a reply regarding the success, or otherwise, of the private sector application. Accordingly, the question of funding this project by the Department does not arise at this time.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 30 March 1995.