Vol. 473 No. 6
152 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for the Environment his Department's policy on waste management, particularly clinical waste; the programmes to encourage recycling and the grants made available to groups in 1996; the amount of grant sought and the amount of grant approved; the grants rejected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2028/97]
The document, Waste Management in Ireland, which I published in May 1995, and which is available in the Oireachtas Library, is an outline statement of policy on waste management. This has been supplemented by replies to a number of Dáil questions, including the reply to Questions Nos. 135 to 138 of 25 June 1996 in relation to hospital waste, and the replies to Questions Nos. 372 of 25 July 1996 and 189 of 15 October 1996 in relation to recycling.
Financial assistance is available to support capital expenditure on recycling facilities under the waste management sub-programme of the operational programme for environmental services. A total of 204 applications for grants to a value of some £36 million were received from the private sector and from local authorities. Grant approvals to a total value of some £1.9 million were issued in 1996 in respect of 35 projects. Forty-eight applications for assistance were rejected or withdrawn and the remainder are under consideration.
