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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Oct 2011

Vol. 744 No. 1

Topical Issue Debate

Passport Applications

I reluctantly raise this issue on the floor of the House because of the inability and failure of parents of a beautiful baby daughter who was born to them last September with the help of a surrogate mother in India to get a passport from the Department of Foreign Affairs. There are other children in this situation as well. It is my strong view that there is nothing to stop the Department of Foreign Affairs or the Minister for Foreign Affairs from issuing a passport to that child and to other children born through surrogacy. It is noticeable that when this child was born in India, the Irish embassy in Delhi referred to the child's citizenship as Irish on the emergency travel document. There is no reason that should not continue.

The key issue in determining the issuing of passports — Mr. Nugent, an official in the Department of Foreign Affairs, pointed out this in correspondence — is whether the child is an Irish citizen and whether the requisite consents of the guardians have been given. On the question of citizenship, the Department of Foreign Affairs says — I know this from having been a Minister for Foreign Affairs and there is precedent for this — that one may be able to establish that the child is an Irish citizen by providing satisfactory DNA evidence. In this case and in other cases, very strong and cast iron DNA validation has been provided. The parents have secured the DNA evidence from the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin, verified by St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, and they have gone public on this and this is a matter of public record.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says in regard to guardianship that the Minister shall, before issuing a passport to a child, be satisfied on reasonable grounds that each person who is a guardian of the child consents to the issuing of a passport to the child. The consent by the mother to the issuing of a passport was full, free and informed in this case. The parents have signed the notarised affidavits from the birth mother to that effect.

Despite all of that, the passport has been refused and I know the Minister is aware of this situation. I would have been aware of another situation when I was Minister where I gave instructions to the officials to issue a passport and I received assurances earlier that a passport would be issued in that case. Subsequently, it was brought to my attention that a passport has not been issued. I had another meeting with officials and was told that the Attorney General had issues with the matter and referred to issues that had emerged from the commission on assisted human reproduction. I do not think that the issuing of passports should be used as a vehicle either to surface, or become a catalyst for dealing with, issues that came out of the commission on assisted human reproduction, which are complex and which the Oireachtas had before it in the context of an all-party committee and which it did not progress.

There is nothing in any of the correspondence I have seen or the responses I have received — I have written to the Minister on this — that cites any law preventing the Minister from issuing a passport and using his discretion to issue a passport to the child. This is important to the fundamental rights of the child in terms of the right of the child to travel, to access medical treatment and to take away the worries and concerns that parents have. In some cases because of work and other issues, people have to travel to other countries from Ireland and back again.

I am disappointed with the responses I have received so far. I have great respect for the officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, having worked there, but I find the obduracy in regard to this issue perplexing and difficult. I know there is precedent for issuing passports on the provision of DNA evidence. That is a fact. I cannot understand why that cannot be invoked in regard to these cases.

I was not aware that the Deputy was going to raise a specific case. The note I have is that he was to ask me whether passports or travel documents can issue to children born outside Ireland when the parentage is proved to be Irish and, if not, whether the Government plans to bring forward urgent legislation to allow him to do so. It is to that general question to which I have prepared a response but I am aware of the case that the Deputy has raised with me and I am happy to address it directly. I hope he will allow for the fact that I am doing so with the use of——

It is on the general issue of surrogacy and the issuing of passports.

——a prepared script. I am familiar with the case to which Deputy Martin referred because he raised it with me in correspondence and I have also met the parents of the child concerned. It is a case for which I have considerable sympathy and I have made extensive inquiries about it within my Department.

The Deputy stated that he is not aware of anything that would prevent me from issuing a passport, but this is not the case. A decision of the Circuit Court on 8 June refused the application for a declaration of parentage in respect of the child. In these circumstances, the legal position of the child's parentage and thus entitlement to citizenship has not been established and therefore I cannot issue the child with a passport. I investigated the possibility of issuing an emergency travel certificate to the child, but I am advised on the basis of the information available that there is no legal basis for me to do so.

I understand the parents are unhappy with the situation, but given that the Circuit Court has issued a determination, no administrative procedure is available to me to overrule it. I am advised that the position can only change on foot of an appeal to the High Court to overturn the decision of the Circuit Court. The State will be co-operative in regard to the processing of any appeal to the High Court. The Attorney General will not oppose an appeal regarding the declaration of parentage and the State will not seek costs in respect of any application made. The State is also willing to co-operate on the processing of an appeal to the High Court if the parents' solicitor contacts the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. In one recent case which was taken to the High Court, a passport was issued within 24 hours of the court's decision being made.

The difficulty in this case is that we cannot ignore the decision of the Circuit Court and I cannot issue a direction to overrule it administratively. However, we will provide every co-operation in expediting an appeal to the High Court.

The parents have advised me that the Circuit Court refused to hear the case on 8 June, stating it should be heard in the High Court. There have been previous examples of refusals or reluctance to grant passport applications. I dealt with one such case, although unfortunately I resigned for political reasons shortly after I issued an instruction on it. I was told the Attorney General's office had concerns about this issue. Something is happening in the undergrowth that I do not understand. I hope I am not doing anyone a wrong but I just do not get it.

The DNA is absolute. We should not expect parents to incur all the costs associated with High Court cases simply to assert their rights. We issue passports in circumstances which do not approximate the rights to citizenship this child enjoys by reason of the DNA. As a political system, we should not be making parents look to the High Court to provide passports for their children if the DNA is cast iron guaranteed. We need to exercise discretion and pragmatic common sense.

Even before the Circuit Court issued its decision, there was a resistance to issuing passports. The original reason given for this resistance was that the surrogacy laws and the recommendations of the commission on assisted human reproduction needed to be addressed. These are complex issues which must be debated in this House but parents and their children will be waiting several years before they are resolved. Meanwhile, the children are without passports or citizenship.

I do not think anyone would challenge the Tánaiste if he exercised his discretion to issue a passport. I ask him to consider the matter carefully.

Deputy Martin is incorrect to state that the Circuit Court refused to hear the case. The Circuit Court issued a ruling which refused the application for parentage. This ruling can only be dealt with in the High Court, which makes it impossible for me to exercise discretion, as the Deputy will understand.

The parents did not go to court for a passport.

For a passport, there has to be satisfaction——

Reasonable grounds.

The court has made a decision. We have made it clear that an appeal to the High Court will not be opposed. We will not seek costs and full co-operation will be offered. In any event, the issuance of a passport will not address the question of legal guardianship, which is necessary for granting consent to medical treatment.

The Deputy is correct that wider issues arise in regard to surrogacy and the issuing of passports. New legislation is required in the area of surrogacy and it is the Government's intention to bring forward legislation. That will take time, however, and in the interim, my Department, the Attorney General's office, the Departments of Justice and Equality and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs are at an advanced stage in preparing guidelines on how cases of surrogacy should be dealt with.

I do not have time to discuss all the issues that arise in this complex legal area. I could spend a considerable amount of time outlining existing legislation on guardianship and what happens in surrogacy cases. Irish law makes various presumptions about parentage and guardianship.

In the individual case to which Deputy Martin referred, a solution has been identified and we will co-operate in solving the problem. We cannot ignore the decision of the Circuit Court but we are addressing the wider issue by preparing guidelines to streamline the issuing of passports and other decisions on guardianship of children.

Health Services

I welcome the opportunity to raise the issue of facilities for cystic fibrosis sufferers in Munster. Approximately 25% of all cystic fibrosis sufferers in the Republic of Ireland have their treatment managed through Cork University Hospital. Unfortunately, Ireland has a disproportionately high number of cystic fibrosis sufferers and, until recently, the State was neglectful in mitigating the challenges faced by sufferers.

There is serious concern in the Munster area about recent media comments which may perhaps be untrue. The Build4Life charity has done a magnificent job in raising over €2 million towards the cost of completion of an inpatient facility at Cork University Hospital to complement the existing outpatient facility. In consultation with the consultant, Dr. Barry Plant, and the hospital, Build4Life has put together a proposal, whereby the facility can be built for €2.3 million. As part of the proposal, an application has been made to the Department of Health for €300,000 in national lottery funding. I do not have time to speak at length about the obvious medical need for this facility. However, it seems the provision of National Lottery funding would be an entirely appropriate way of coming up with the money needed — it is not much more than 10% of the total cost — to allow the project to commence and be completed. It is important to mention that, in the light of the public employment embargo, with which we are all familiar, no additional staffing costs will be associated with the project. The ongoing medical treatment can be provided from within existing resources.

A broader point needs to be made in the context of the percentage required. The group undertaking to seek the balance of the moneys is a charity. Therefore, in VAT alone a figure of €400,000 would come back to the Exchequer. We are aware of the difficult financial position the country is in. However, there is potential for the Government to examine carefully schemes that would create work in the construction sector. As a result of PRSI payments, social welfare reductions and VAT payments, for example, the real cost to the Exchequer of such projects following the release of public funds might be very small. It seems from the figures I have seen that there would be a net benefit to the Exchequer if the money were to be found in this instance.

I know the Minister is extremely sympathetic to the plight of cystic fibrosis sufferers. I appeal to him, therefore, to examine carefully the case being made in this instance and find the sum of money being sought by a group of volunteers who have done outstanding work.

The Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, is strongly committed to supporting services for patients with cystic fibrosis. To this end, he has set out a policy, whereby sufficient inpatient beds must be available to treat all persons with cystic fibrosis when they require hospitalisation. Cork University Hospital has the second largest adult cystic fibrosis centre in Ireland. The centre caters for the needs of 145 adult patients from the Munster region. In September 2007 Dr. Barry Plant was appointed as the director of the adult cystic fibrosis programme at Cork University Hospital. In June 2008, in consultation with the cystic fibrosis multidisciplinary team and the cystic fibrosis community locally, he submitted a statement of need for cystic fibrosis services to the executive management board of Cork University Hospital. This document which was approved by the board outlined a strategic plan to develop cystic fibrosis services in the hospital, including the provision of day and inpatient facilities.

Dr. Plant is working with the executive management board of Cork University Hospital to develop a designated inpatient unit with en suite rooms for cystic fibrosis patients. A location has been identified for a combined designated adult inpatient facility and respiratory unit in a vacated ward on the Cork University Hospital campus. Provisional plans and costings have been made, with an estimated build cost of approximately €3 million. Some €2 million has been collected by the charity mentioned by the Deputy, Build4Life, towards the cost of the facility. Build4Life has done Trojan work in this area and the HSE is examining ways to secure additional capital funding to complete the unit. The need to develop the adult inpatient facility remains a priority for Cork University Hospital and the HSE, both of which will continue to work with Build4Life to complete the project.

The Build4Life group has submitted a grant application to the Department of Health for National Lottery funding of €300,000 to help to build the inpatient cystic fibrosis unit. This is one of a large number of applications being assessed by the Department. It would not be correct to say the group recently failed in its grant application. In fact, no decision has yet been reached on the group's request for funding. The Minister will make a decision as soon as possible, having regard to the various applications submitted for many other good projects. The Department will ensure Build4Life is informed of the outcome in a timely manner. The Minister is happy to reiterate his continuing commitment to developing services for people with cystic fibrosis and working with the organisations representing them to ensure the best possible service can be delivered within the resources available.

I welcome the response of the Minister of State who comes from the same part of the world as me. Her clarification that, contrary to what has been reported, no negative decision has been made is particularly welcome. I am sure a large number of grant applications are before the Minister, Deputy Reilly, and all of his colleagues. I am sure also that the Minister and the Minister of State will take on board the message that this application is potentially revenue-neutral from the perspective of the State. I am sure also that people play the National Lottery on the basis that the profits will go to worthy causes.

I attended the 65 Roses ball in Cork city a couple of years ago. "65 Roses" was a term used by a young cystic fibrosis sufferer who could not say the words "cystic fibrosis". It was a very uplifting experience. The plight of those for whose benefit the event had been arranged pulled at the heartstrings of those in attendance. All of the volunteers do magnificent work on their own. I note the Minister has said he will review the applications made. All of us should keep the pressure on him, the Minister of State and the Department of Health to deliver for people who deserve a boost for the great work they have done and will continue to do. I emphasise that Build4Life has raised over €2 million in the last four years. I am sure it will continue to operate as a successful and well supported fund-raising group.

Hospital Services

I raise the issue of overcrowding at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. As the Minister of State is aware, the hospital provides an essential service for the people of the north east. As part of the Louth-Meath hospital group, it is also a teaching hospital. It provides acute medical and surgical services, as well as an excellent maternity service, for patients from across counties Louth and Meath and parts of north County Dublin. A wide range of medical services, including cardiology, oncology, geriatrics and palliative care, are provided at the hospital. The main accident and emergency unit for the Louth-Meath hospital group is located at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. It is in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and supported in providing care for patients from the region by an interim medical assessment unit and short stay unit, both of which are on site, and by minor injuries units at Louth County Hospital, Dundalk and the emergency department of Our Lady's Hospital, Navan.

There has been significant investment at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital since 2007, including in the construction of a new emergency department which opened last year and associated patient accommodation. Despite this investment, the hospital has suffered as a result of tighter funding restrictions owing to the economic crisis. I pay tribute to the hard working staff at the hospital who provide an exceptional service on a continuing basis, for which they must be applauded. I know from first-hand accounts that doctors and nurses in the hospital have worked tirelessly to ensure services are maintained with less manpower and no extra money. No hospital across the country has gone unaffected as a result of the financial crisis. Hospitals have been told they must stick to their budgets. There is simply no money left to make up shortfalls at the end of the year, a practice which led to poor management practices in the past.

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital has certainly not escaped the challenges that have been brought by reduced spending in our health service. According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, there are 36 people on trolleys at the Lourdes hospital today. I am sure the Minister of State will agree this is a deplorable situation. Patients and staff deserve more.

I know the problem of overcrowding in our hospitals is a complex one which will take time to resolve. However, people need to know that concrete action is being taken. The Minister established the special delivery unit, SDU, earlier this year to address this very problem. I am sure the Minister of State can understand that people are becoming anxious, as winter approaches, given that they cannot see significant progress to date.

I understand Dr. Martin Connor, as head of the SDU, has been visiting hospitals around the country and looking at the systems in place in a bid to identify how service provision can be made more efficient. Can the Minister of State tell me whether he has submitted a report on Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and, if so, when it can be implemented? Can she give the people who use the Lourdes hospital assurances that the situation will be improved?

I am grateful to the Deputy for raising this important issue. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, is continuously working across a number of levels to reduce the time patients wait on trolleys in the emergency department. The hospital is currently implementing a two-pronged approach to the management of overcrowding in the emergency department. First, it is working closely with the special delivery unit to improve capacity planning throughout the hospital. The clinical director and group general manager are fully engaged in managing scheduled care and unscheduled care under the direction of Dr. Martin Connor of the SDU. Second, the hospital is actively engaged in the implementation of the HSE's national clinical care programmes, which will focus on extending the hospital's acute medical assessment unit facility. In addition, the hospital is operating a proactive three-tiered response based on the level of overcrowding.

In response to the numbers of patients who have presented at the emergency department over the past month, the HSE arranged additional theatre time to facilitate the treatment of additional surgical cases. Additional diagnostic capacity was also provided to the medical assessment unit and to expedite discharge. Furthermore, for the past week the medical assessment unit and the day ward have remained open at night to accommodate patients from the emergency department.

The patient treatment plan of each patient is reviewed each morning by 8 o'clock and at regular intervals throughout the day, particularly when the escalation policy to deal with this issue is in place. Additional ward rounds are also undertaken throughout the day and on-call physicians and surgeons are met to review their treatment plans for patients. Where blockages are identified, the hospital management engages with the relevant service to expedite the provision of this service to the patients.

The situation in the emergency department earlier today was that there were 23 patients awaiting admission. While issues of overcrowding and waiting times in emergency departments, which are symptoms of broader hospital issues, are a source of concern, it is important to note that when a patient comes into the emergency department, his or her treatment begins at triage and, in accordance with the priorities identified by way of the triage process, anybody requiring urgent care receives it.

The Minister, Deputy Reilly, fully acknowledges and has previously stated that the waiting times for admission for patients attending emergency departments in many hospitals are unacceptable, and he is determined that this situation should be addressed. Immediately following his appointment, the Minister set about establishing the special delivery unit to unblock access to acute services by improving the flow of patients through the system. The SDU is focusing initially on emergency departments and will work to support hospitals in addressing excessive waiting times for admission to hospital.

I thank the Minister of State for her response and I look forward to hearing updates on this issue. I realise that repairing and reforming our health services at this time of economic austerity will take serious hard work, innovation and flexibility. I am confident the staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, have the determination to provide a high quality service, even if further challenges lie ahead. I ask the Minister of State to keep the house fully briefed on this situation.

Dr. Martin Connor has been working with the hospital. The difficulty is sometimes not in the emergency department but at the other end, which is where the blockages occur. Although it will be difficult, this is the type of issue we will have to deal with. It is not always about money, but about processes, how people work, step-down facilities and ensuring people are discharged when they can be. The idea of the consultant, whether in surgery or medicine, having two rounds a day will help that process. Dr. Connor is working with the hospital, particularly in the run-in to winter, to ensure there is a smoother transition. I will keep the Deputy informed.

Waste Management

I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss this issue in the Chamber and pleased that the Minster of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, who is our local Deputy and has considerable experience of the issue, is in a position to respond on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Hogan.

The operation of the waste management system has many deficits. However, the most yawning gap is the complete and utter disconnection between local democracy and the decision-making process when it comes to the final destination of residual waste. The Minister of State is only too well aware that Ireland's first municipal waste incinerator will open soon near Drogheda at Carranstown, County Meath. The Minister of State will not need reminding that I and some of the Minister of State's party colleagues have opposed this facility. The Minister of State has a track record in this regard since the project was first announced, which I am happy to acknowledge.

I called the first public meeting on it.

The north-east waste management strategy, with incineration as its focus, was rejected by local authorities across the region, specifically Louth County Council, but it was imposed by the then Minister, Mr. Noel Dempsey. From start to finish, the process was an anti-democratic stitch-up, with a predetermined outcome which flew in the face of any semblance of local community intervention or democratic input at local level.

It is unfortunate to acknowledge in the Chamber today that I again feel anti-democratic decision making processes are beginning to rear their heads on the question of what it is we will do as a society and a community with the bottom ash left over from the burning of municipal waste at the Indaver facility at Carranstown. The Minister of State will know that only a matter of weeks ago Louth County Council decided unilaterally to sign an agreement that would essentially welcome the bottom ash into the council's landfill at Whiteriver, Philipstown, County Louth. This has caused a huge amount of anger, frustration and anxiety among the community at Philipstown. Local residents have gone through a tortuous enough time in recent years in terms of the operation of that site, with which the Minister of State is familiar. To add insult to injury, the council has signed off on a massive deal with Indaver to dump its bottom ash into what is already a troublesome site.

We are told by the council that the deal complies with what it calls the proximity principle. I want this matter to be informed by the precautionary principle. In other words, if there is any doubt, the bottom ash should be left out. There are huge concerns over the question of whether bottom ash is hazardous or non-hazardous, and the Minister of State will be aware that the literature and research in this area varies. As this is the first operation of its kind in the country, there is anxiety at the capacity of the authorities, such as the EPA and the county council, to deal effectively with this and to address the legitimate fears of the residents of the Philipstown area and the wider Louth area with this approach. Until such time as we can say with complete confidence that the bottom ash does not pose a threat to the people of Philipstown, I ask the Minister of State to use his influence with the Minister, Deputy Hogan, to intervene with the EPA to review the situation. We must stop Whiteriver from accepting the waste as agreed by Louth County Council, at the very least until such time as we can all be 100% certain that the safety of the bottom ash can be guaranteed.

The Minister of State might also use his influence with the Minister, Deputy Hogan, to arrange a meeting with the residents of Philipstown to attempt to assuage their legitimate and valid fears about this issue, which is a novel one given we are dealing with Ireland's first municipal incinerator and the first case of this kind in the country.

I am very familiar with this issue and for several years have been concerned about the operation of the waste facility at Whiteriver, and about the whole issue of the incinerator at Carranstown and the history of how it came about. I certainly commend the residents on their activity in ensuring, particularly in recent years, any release of toxic or noxious gases into the air has been dealt with adequately by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and Louth County Council working together. If the file is examined, one will see significant correspondence from the EPA to Louth County Council on the issue.

There are two interrelated issues of relevance to the matter raised by the Deputy. The first relates to the issue of what wastes are permitted to be deposited at the landfill site in question under the terms of its waste licence. The second concerns the determination of whether bottom ash produced at the incinerator in question is classified as hazardous or non-hazardous waste. Decisions on both issues are the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency. For the information of the Deputy and the House, it may be useful to set out the legislative position involved. Taking the issue of waste licensing first, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has no role in the licensing of landfill or incineration facilities or the enforcement of conditions attaching to these. As I have indicated, these are matters for the EPA. Under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996, the Minister is precluded from exercising any power or control with regard to the performance in particular circumstances by the agency of a statutory function given to it under the Act.

Major waste facilities, including incinerators and landfill sites, are subject to stringent environmental standards set out in national and European Union environmental and waste-specific legislation. The landfill facility concerned is licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Waste Management Act 1996. The agency, when it decided to grant a licence for the facility, only would have done so on the basis that it was satisfied that, subject to compliance with the conditions of the licence, any emission would not give rise to environmental pollution. It has significant oversight and enforcement powers to safeguard the environment and ensure compliance with waste licence conditions. The Minister is satisfied that a rigorous and risk-based enforcement regime, including emissions monitoring, inspections and audits, is actively pursued by the agency.

I wish to make it clear that on the question of whether the waste is hazardous or non-hazardous, the Environmental Protection Agency is directly concerned with the issue. While due process is under way within the agency, it has met representatives of the residents and when I expressed their concerns to it, it assured me it would be happy to meet them and ensure no hazardous waste would be dumped there. Certain wastes are automatically considered to be hazardous by virtue of their demonstration of certain properties. Other wastes not specifically identified also may be classified as hazardous on the basis of their properties. Determination in this regard is entirely a matter for consideration and decision by the EPA.

I understand the commissioning of the thermal treatment facility concerned is ongoing and that the normal testing of output from a facility's processes required as part of the licensing process is under way. The testing is necessary both to ensure the facility in question is compliant with the terms of its waste licence and the bottom ash produced may be appropriately disposed of in the landfill facility concerned, having regard to the terms of the licence. Pending approval from the Environmental Protection Agency to proceed with the disposal of bottom ash at the landfill site concerned, I understand the ash produced by the thermal treatment plant is being stored on-site and that it is a matter for the EPA to control all such matters in its capacity as the licensing authority. The point is the EPA will not issue a licence unless it deems it to be non-hazardous.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, for his personal interest in this matter as a constituency colleague with a track record in the area. He has correctly pointed out that the Environmental Protection Agency has an enormous responsibility with regard to this facility, the testing of the ash and the classification as to whether it is hazardous or non-hazardous. I attended a meeting between local residents and the EPA three weeks ago and accept the assurances given to me by the agency to the effect that it was doing everything in its power to ensure what was produced at the site would be safe and that only non-hazardous waste would find its way into the Whiteriver site if this particular aspect of the project was to proceed. However, this is a novel situation in that this is the first challenge in Ireland to the disposal of bottom ash from a municipal waste incinerator. While I understand the EPA's responsibility in this regard, because this is such a novel prospect, I request the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, to keep a watching brief with the EPA on the exercise of the agency's functions. Moreover, I ask that the agency exceed and go above and beyond its statutory obligations, if confidence is to be given to the people of Philipstown and County Louth as to the safety of this practice.

I wish to make a final point on the classification of bottom ash. There are variations in scientific attitudes towards the question of whether bottom ash is hazardous or non-hazardous. I wrote to the Minister recently in this regard and repeat that the precautionary principle should be deployed if there is a concern regarding the nature of bottom ash. Fundamentally, if there is any doubt, we should leave it out. The trend elsewhere in Europe appears to be that bottom ash is used in the construction industry, particularly as road infill material and so on. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd and the Minister, Deputy Hogan, to examine this possibility with regard to the future operation of the site in question outside Drogheda and what is to be done with the bottom ash. In addition, I respectfully ask whether it would be possible for the Minister to meet the residents of Philipstown to assuage their legitimate fears about the facility, given that it is the first of its kind in Ireland.

It is clear that the residents, Deputy Nash and I agree on the fundamental issue that no hazardous ash should be dumped at the facility. The statutory authority to decide this issue does not rest with the Deputy, me or Louth County Council but with the Environmental Protection Agency. I am sure the Deputy, if he has not already done so, will inform the agency of his concerns which I acknowledge the people of the area share. As for the Minister meeting the residents, in view of his statutory position, I am unclear on whether he can legally do so. However, I will be happy to bring the request directly to his attention. Depending on the status of the law, it might be deemed that were he to do so, he would technically be in breach of his powers or the law, but I will bring the request to his attention. I assure the Deputy of my ongoing concern about the issue.

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