Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 July 2014
340. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the action his Department has taken in High Court revelations regarding the conduct of Wicklow County Council in the Brownfield case. [30315/14]
View answerThe case in question relates to an illegal landfill site at Whitestown, Co. Wicklow. In November 2001, Wicklow County Council discovered that unauthorised dumping had taken place on this site and subsequent investigations revealed that the illegal dumping operation was systematic and large scale and had taken place over a period of a number of years, from 1996 to 2001. By June 2002, Wicklow County Council investigations concluded that in excess of 200,000 tonnes of waste material had been dumped at the site. Wicklow County Council also requested the assistance of An Garda Síochána, and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation conducted an investigation. There have been a number of criminal convictions subsequent to the Garda investigation.
This site was cited in the European Court of Justice Judgment in Case C 494/01 as an example of Ireland’s failure to comply with the 1975 Waste Framework Directive. My Department, on behalf of the State, has been liaising with the European Commission to ensure that the requirements of the judgment are fully met and it is in these circumstances that my Department, in June 2011, requested Wicklow County Council to remediate the site, pursuant to its powers under section 56 of the Waste Management Act 1996. The remediation of the Whitestown site as per the programme of works defined by the Technical Working Group established to oversee the remediation programme is progressing well and should be completed by the end of the year. The cost of remediation is being funded by the State, with Wicklow County Council seeking cost recovery through the Courts. As the matter is the subject of on-going legal proceedings, I do not propose to comment further.
