Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 8 Jul 2008

Vol. 659 No. 1

Adjournment Debate.

Special Areas of Conservation.

Deputy Ulick Burke

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter. I propose that the derogation that will cease in December 2008 be extended beyond that date. Taking the current costs of fuel into account, it is reasonable to expect the Minister to reconsider the situation that has developed since 1997, when the directive was introduced, and when the then Minister, Deputy Dempsey, verified the extension of the derogation in the Wildlife Act.

During the recent referendum campaign, it was clear that issues such as this were a major factor in the "No" vote. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is familiar with the situation in Shragh community centre, where those voting in a small rural area voted overwhelmingly "No", primarily because of this situation. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, has been asked if he will extend the derogation beyond that period. It is clear that the people are sick to the teeth of overregulation, especially from Europe. At a recent public meeting, 200 people indicated that they wanted to continue to harvest peat for domestic purposes as they had always done in Clonmoylan bog, outside Woodford.

It is important to note that the designation of certain bogs as SACs and national heritage areas, NHAs, in 1997 and in 2000 was based on unsound interpretation of the habitats directive in 1992. In 1997 and in 2000, the relevant Ministers designated SACs and NHAs exclusively on scientific grounds. The Minister who designated certain bogs as SACs in 1997 told Dáil Éireann on 13 March 1997 that "the habitats directive is a conservation measure and only allows for objections to proposed designations on scientific grounds". That view was sustained by the subsequent Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, when he introduced his Wildlife (Amendment) Act of 2000.

The Wildlife (Amendment) Act was signed into law on 18 December 2000. Both Ministers ignored a number of important provisions in the 1992 directive, which was published on 21 May 1992. The EU habitats directive declares that its central aim is to "promote the maintenance of biodiversity, taking account of economic, social, cultural and regional requirements". In committing itself to the "general objective of sustainable development", the habitats directive acknowledges that "the maintenance of such biodiversity may in certain cases require the maintenance, or indeed the encouragement, of human activities".

The Ministers responsible for the 1997 and 2000 designations did not take into account the economic, social, cultural or regional requirements of the people of rural Ireland. They focused exclusively on the scientific grounds. The 1997 designation does not reflect the EU habitats directive's requirement for the "maintenance and encouragement of relevant human activities".

The harvesting of turf is a major part of life in rural Ireland, especially for domestic purposes. No one wants to see the commercial use of those bogs. When the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, was in the Chamber I pointed out that the "No" vote in certain parts of rural Ireland was a direct response of the people in rural Ireland who wanted to harvest turf. I gave an example of the polling booth in the Clonmoylan area where harvesting turf is restricted.

This is happening at a time when we have an increase of 30% in electricity prices. In 1997, oil cost $24 per barrel and it is now $140 per barrel. The Minister cannot turn his back on the situation and condemn many people who depend on the bog for winter heating and domestic purposes. It is the Minister's prerogative and within his capacity to extend the derogation beyond the current limit, allowing a redemption and an extension of time for those people.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy John Gormley)

I welcome the opportunity to clarify a number of issues regarding the cessation of turf cutting on a relatively small number of designated bogs, which is due to come into effect at the end of this year. Of the 1,500-1,600 raised bogs, only 139 are designated and only 32 of these are subject to the derogation that lapses this year. While a similar ten-year derogation period will apply to the balance of the 139 designated bogs, turf cutting may continue as before on the vast majority of bogs. That message must be sent out loud and clear. The number of bogs affected by the ending of turf cutting in 2008 is, therefore, very limited.

The Deputy refers to the interpretations by previous Governments of the habitats directive in 1997 and 2000. Ireland is required to protect habitats of European importance under the habitats directive 1992. This directive was transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997 and the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000. Ireland has nominated certain raised and blanket bogs, which are priority natural habitats under the directive, as candidate SACs. In addition, Ireland has also designated other raised and blanket bogs as NHAs under the 2000 Wildlife Act.

Ireland's raised bogs are of European importance. Almost all of the active raised bogs in western Europe have disappeared or been severely damaged. Within Ireland too, most areas of bog have been severely damaged, mainly by turf cutting, but in more recent times by afforestation and overgrazing. Less than 1% of Ireland's original active raised bog — bog on which the indigenous flora are still growing and forming peat — remains. However, this tiny proportion represents 60% of western Europe's remaining raised bogs.

This bogland is a priority habitat under the EU habitats directive. Ireland is obliged under Articles 2 and 4 to protect and, where possible, restore it. When arrangements were announced for cessation of turf cutting in designated bogs in 1999, a ten-year grace period was granted to domestic turf cutters to allow them to find an alternative source of fuel. This ten-year period is now coming to an end on 32 designated raised bogs.

Deputy Ulick Burke

What was the price of it then?

Deputy John Gormley

A similar ten-year derogation applies to bogs designated after 1999. When NHAs were designated in 2004, under an agreement with the farming organisations, another ten-year derogation was put in place, allowing cutting in NHAs until 2014. In the meantime, a review of the state of our bogs has revealed severe and continuing damage by domestic turf cutting. In the ten years since commercial cutting was ended in designated areas, approximately 35% of the remaining area of this priority EU habitat has been lost. We are losing a further 2% to 4% of our remaining active raised bog per annum.

The overall scientific assessment of this habitat is "unfavourable, bad", which is the worst of three categories for EU reporting purposes. It is clear that, at the minimum, such unfavourable habitat status must be addressed by measures to ensure improvement. In the light of the scientific evidence, it would not be appropriate to extend the ten-year periods for the ending of cutting.

Since 1999, the Government has actively encouraged the cessation of domestic cutting by buying the traditional turf-cutting rights through a voluntary scheme of compensation. This covers both SACs and NHAs. It is the Government's responsibility to ensure that Ireland meets its obligations with regard to protecting at least a portion of what remains of this valuable element of Irish and European natural heritage.

School Accommodation.

Deputy Joe McHugh

I welcome the Minister to the House. I hope he uses his high office to extend this communiqué to his colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, to whom I have spoken off the record on this matter.

This is not a new issue. The secretary general of the INTO, John Carr, who is also a native of Donegal, recently wrote an article on the challenges we are facing with regard to student capacity within the primary school sector in the greater Letterkenny area. Letterkenny is establishing itself as a gateway town under the gateway status initiative in conjunction with Derry. If we are to consider our spatial strategy in any comprehensive and methodical way we should critically examine what has happened in Letterkenny in terms of demographics and population growth in recent years.

While I acknowledge the fact that many schools in Letterkenny, such as Ballyraine national school, benefited from recent infrastructural investment, other schools are still in need of significant investment and extension. In particular, I mention two schools, St. Colmcille's boys' school and Lurgybrack national school. These schools are coming under increasing pressures and I could list the reasons for this all night. They include inward migration from other parts of Donegal where people had difficulty obtaining planning permission and were restricted from building in their own rural areas.

We are looking at an ever-expanding younger generation. At St. Colmcille's boys' school, 63 students have come forward for enrolment this year. The school faces another year in the unfortunate position of having to turn away students. It has a history of appeals and a tradition of facilitating as many people as possible. However, the capacity is not there.

Letterkenny was the fastest growing town in Europe until recent years. The greater Letterkenny area has a population of approximately 20,000 and we need infrastructure. This highlights another part of the challenge we face as a country. We do not necessarily have an east coast urban problem. Various parts of the island have the same population pressures as the east coast. I refer to a research proposal at DIT which suggested that in 20, 40 or 50 years' time the balance will be between an urban east coast and a rural west coast. I can tell the Minister this is not the case. Donegal, and Letterkenny in particular, is situated 20 miles from Derry, the fourth largest city in Ireland. Derry city has an urban sprawl and Letterkenny caters for students originally from Derry. Within the greater Letterkenny area we also have integration and a social mix for which we must cater.

Will the Minister speak to his colleague? I know in his reply he will speak about projection appraisals and evaluations of population density. The schools have provided their own analysis and produced their own projections. They are there in black and white. These schools are not in a position to cope with added pressures. They do not want to turn away students and they want to carry on in the manner they have for generations.

The Minister is in the Cabinet. Today, it was stated that capital projects will not be affected by any measures being introduced. This commitment must be extended to the Department of Education and Science. I hear there is little money for capital projects. In the economic circumstances we face we must use imagination and creativity to cater for students being turned away from schools against the wishes of principals and boards of management.

Deputy John Gormley

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity of outlining to the House the position of the Department of Education and Science regarding primary school provision in Letterkenny, County Donegal. The Department's school building programme in 2008 aims to provide sufficient school places in developing areas, while also showing the Government's commitment to delivering improvements in the quality of existing primary and post-primary school accommodation throughout the country. During the lifetime of the national development plan, approximately €4.5 billion will be invested in school buildings. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post primary schools. This investment will facilitate the provision of new schools and extensions in developing areas and the improvement of existing schools through the provision of replacement schools, extensions or large-scale refurbishments in the coming years. It builds on the delivery of 7,800 building projects under the previous national development plan which resulted in new schools being built and the refurbishment of many existing schools.

Capital projects under the multi-annual building programme cannot all be delivered together and they are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project, which indicates the urgency, type and extent of work required at a school. There are four bands overall, of which band one is the highest and band four the lowest. Band one projects include, for example, the provision of buildings where none exist but where there is a high demand for pupil places, while a band four project makes provision of desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities, such as a library or new sports hall.

The forward planning section of the Department is in the process of identifying the areas where significant additional accommodation will be required at primary and post-primary level for 2009 and onwards. This work will be done in consultation with local authorities. The Department is included among the prescribed authorities to which local authorities are statutorily obliged to send draft development plans or proposed variations to development plans. As a matter of course, there is on-going liaison with local authorities to establish the location, scale and pace of any major proposed developments and their possible implications for school provision. In addition, the Department planning process utilises census data and school enrolment trends.

The Department is aware that the latest publication by the Central Statistics Office on population and labour force projections indicates that the population aged five to 12 years is projected to increase by at least 10% in the next decade. This will happen even with zero net migration and falling fertility rates. Depending on the extent of inward migration, the increase could be even greater. Meeting the demand for school places arising from these increases will in be a major challenge for the Department and for the State. Therefore, when examining accommodation requirements for an area such as Letterkenny, factors under consideration include population growth, demographic trends, current and projected enrolments, recent and planned housing developments and capacity of existing schools to meet demand for places. Having considered these factors, decisions will be taken on the means by which emerging needs will be met within an area.

Waste Management.

Deputy Ciarán Lynch

I thank the Minister for attending the Chamber to address this issue. This is the fourth occasion on which I have sought a reply to this matter. On the day the story broke, I asked a junior Minister to clarify this issue and I did not receive an adequate response. When the Minister was in the House last week, I asked about this matter and received no response. This evening I received a short reply to a parliamentary question I tabled in which the Minister stated, "Anecdotal evidence suggests inert slag material was employed for this purpose during the period when the steelworks was in commercial operation but my Department does not hold any records or information from this period". He further stated that since 2003 "no material has been removed from slag heaps to be used in road construction, or indeed any other activity".

This is surprising given that in an article the Irish Examiner on Thursday, 11 August 2005, Eoin English wrote:

Environmental engineers moved onto the site of the former Irish Steel factory on Haulbowline Island in Cobh, Co. Cork, yesterday to begin the largest industrial clean-up in the history of the State. Consultants working for Cork County Council removed over 80,000 tonnes of hazardous and radioactive materials from the site last year. However, thousands of tonnes of waste material still has to be removed.

Given Ernst & Young, the company engaged by the Minister, was on the site at the time, his response that no material was removed after 2003 is unusual. It is on record that at least 80,000 tonnes was removed. People living in the harbour region know mountains of this material were on the island, which are no longer there, and they want to know where they have been moved.

Between 1998 and 2002, Haulbowline supplied road resurfacing material to two contractors: Road Maintenance Services Limited and Road Binders Limited. Both companies have registered offices at Unit 1G, Maynooth Business Park, Maynooth, County Kildare. RMS also has a sub-office in the Mallow area. They are part of the Colas conglomerate, which has more than 500 companies operating with a budget of €10.7 billion in more than 40 countries. Those companies were engaged in this and they were operating on NRA contracts.

Furthermore, I have a letter dated 1998 from a D. Daly, chief environment officer of Cork County Council at the time, who states:

We are considering how the matter of slag reuse might be progressed ... Slag from iron and steel manufacture is an amber list waste under this regulation which means that approval to movements must be sought from local authorities concerned and the movement must be tracked by the relevant forms.

Was a licence granted to these companies, given a licence must be granted by the local authority? If so, the Minister can provide traceability about where the material went on road projects to the House. If no licences were granted, our concern increases.

There can be no ambiguity by the Minister or his Department about whether this material was moved. An anecdotal response in a parliamentary question is completely insufficient. I am asking him for the fourth time to clarify whether material was removed from Haulbowline for road building and to state where are those roads.

Deputy Seán Sherlock

In light of the revelations by Deputy Ciarán Lynch, we know materials were moved from this site to the mainland. The current investigation, therefore, must also examine material carried off site. We need to know where the material was transported to and how it was transported. Was a licence granted to transport it? Was only inert material transported? Is the material forming part of a slag heap somewhere in County Cork? Given the material was transported by a company based in Mallow, when did it transfer to Mallow? Is the material still in Mallow or has it been deposited in municipally licensed dumps in north Cork? Is material deposited in non-licensed facilities? Can the Minister confirm whether some material has ended up in other locations in north Cork? Will the Minister, on foot of these revelations, consider a further investigation and use the powers vested in him to seek to ensure complete traceability of all materials? Will he widen the remit of the current assessment of the site to ensure all traceable material, both on and off site, comes within the remit of that investigation? In light of these revelations, I also call on the Minister to meet the elected representatives of east Cork and the harbour area and, in particular, the mayor of Cobh immediately to listen to their concerns.

Deputy Kathleen Lynch

Last week when we discussed this issue, we were less informed than we are now. Significant information has been garnered by people interested in this issue, particularly by the two previous speakers. Local people need to know what will happen with this site and how it will be made safe. When will the analysis be carried out to find out what is in the material? The people in the area are very worried for themselves, their children and, above all, the local economy, which will suffer as a result of these revelations. They need assurances from the Minister who is the only person who can assure them the necessary investigations are being carried out and that we will discover what is in the material, where it was transported to and how and when the site will be dealt with.

Earlier the Government announced adjustments or curtailments or whatever the Minister wants to call them under which €10 million will be cut from his budget in respect of remediation of landfills. If what we have found out to date is correct and material removed from this site could have ended up in various landfills, how will this cutback affect his response to this issue? Will the Haulbowline site not be dealt with as a matter of urgency? Will it mean when the materials are traced to other landfills, those sites will not be dealt with? The people in the lower harbour area in Cork want to know what the Minister will do about this and what assurances he can give them that the site will be dealt with speedily and properly? Above all else, those assurances are vital.

Deputy John Gormley

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter on the Adjournment. They will be aware that I have already responded to a parliamentary question submitted by Deputy Ciarán Lynch on this issue today. This gives me a further opportunity to address the issue, which has become the subject of much media speculation in recent days.

There has been a long history of industrial activity on Haulbowline Island, which was an important source of employment and a significant part of the local economy. The steelworks located there became the property of Irish Ispat, which went into liquidation in 2001. The State, acting through the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in a co-ordinating role, took over custody of the site from the liquidator in 2003, as mandated by Government. The mandate required the Department to co-ordinate all legal actions regarding the site and to address issues such as ongoing site security, maintenance and so on. It also required the Department to enable a site investigation to be carried out to assist in determining the best option, environmentally and economically, for the future use of the site and its remediation.

The steelworks operated on Haulbowline Island since 1939 at a time when such industrial activities were poorly regulated. Inevitably, the nature of the activity generated large quantities of waste, predominately inert slag, which were subsequently deposited on the island in an area that became known as the East Tip. I take this opportunity to confirm again for the House that, since my Department's involvement with the site began in 2003, no material has been removed from slag heaps to be used in road construction or other such commercial enterprises despite a number of approaches to my Department from interested parties in this regard. Anecdotal evidence suggests inert slag material was removed from the site and employed for this purpose during the period when the steelworks was in commercial operation and possibly also during the period when the liquidator owned the site. I can confirm that my Department does not hold any records or information regarding such activities during the periods in question. I also understand that Cork County Council is investigating the matter in respect of any licences or permits that might have issued for the removal for recycling of any slag material from the site. I assume that the mountains of material seen by residents and referred to by Deputy Ciarán Lynch were the so-called heaps of material for export.

As the Deputies are aware, my Department has now engaged consultants to carry out an independent and rigorous assessment of site conditions following the extensive unauthorised works by the subcontractors. The assessment, which has already begun, is divided into three distinct modules. White Young Green has had the full benefit of the advice of the EPA, the Marine Institute and the Health and Safety Authority in assessing the quality of surface water, marine sediment and mussel bivalves in the vicinity of Haulbowline Island, in assessing any health or environmental risks that may be posed by the recent works on the East Tip and in monitoring ambient air. The health and safety assessment will include sampling of slag-fill material across the East Tip. In 2005, White Young Green carried out an extensive intrusive site investigation that indicated no evidence of any immediate threat to human health or the environment. It is best suited to determining the best way forward in securing the site from an environmental and health and safety point of view in the short term pending a Government decision on its future use.

Deputy Kathleen Lynch referred to a so-called cutback or adjustment in respect of landfill remediation, but it will have no implication in terms of the Haulbowline Island situation. I assure the House that the investigation will continue unaffected. I have also given a commitment to local residents that a peer review will be carried out of both the 2005 report and the reports expected in the next five weeks from the ongoing White Young Green assessments. This is in line with best practice. The residents will be assured that they will be in receipt of the best international methodology. When I spoke to them, they called for a peer review, which I was happy to allow to proceed. I have further committed that the results of the ongoing assessment will be published and, as I informed the House last week, I will then advise the Government for purposes of decision making on whatever actions are shown to be necessary, including the question of any studies in regard to human health. I reassure the local residents and the House that my Department and other relevant agencies are properly engaged in the management of this legacy site in a manner consistent with good practice and the minimisation of risk to human health and the environment. A coherent overall approach rather than piecemeal action, which could inadvertently cause problems to the local community and the environment, must be taken, which is the objective being pursued by my Department.

A number of reports have been deposited in the Oireachtas Library. They are the 1995 and 1998 K. T. Cullen and Company reports, the 2002 O'Callaghan Moran report, the 2002 Enviros report and the 2005 White Young Green Report, which is on CD-ROM. I am committed to releasing any other useful information or reports. However, that there is considerable misinformation is a problem. When there is misinformation, fears are stirred up. I reassure people of my commitment to ensuring that relevant and accurate information is in the public domain to counter such misinformation.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 9 July 2008.