Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 June 2004
254 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his Department’s waste management policy; and if he approves the use of landfill in environmentally sensitive areas. [16819/04]
View answerThe Government's waste management policy is set out in the policy documents Changing our Ways 1998, Preventing and Recycling Waste: Delivering Change 2002 and Taking Stock and Moving Forward 2004. Its approach is based on the internationally recognised waste management hierarchy of prevention-minimisation, significantly increased levels of recycling, energy recovery and utilising landfill as the last resort for residual waste that cannot otherwise be recovered.
Local authorities adopted waste management plans that, informed by the performance targets set out in these policy statements, call for the provision of modern integrated waste management services and infrastructure. A decision on the development of a landfill facility is a matter for the relevant planning authority and for the Environmental Protection Agency in the context of applications for planning permission and for a waste licence, respectively. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is precluded under both legal codes from exercising direct control of these processes.
