Written Replies Nos. 224-234
224. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which adequate provisions remain in place to ensure the reduction in greenhouse gases in line with EU and UN targets; the extent to which these targets continue to be met; if further measures are deemed necessary to achieve the targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38810/15]
View answer225. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which greenhouse gas emissions continue to be monitored, with a view to ensuring compliance with internationally set targets which, if not met, will result in the imposition of penalties; the nature of such penalties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38811/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 224 and 225 together.
For each year between 2013 and 2020, Ireland has a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target under the 2009 Effort Sharing Decision (ESD) No. 406/2009/EC. Under the ESD, EU-wide emissions in the year 2013 should be no more than the average of those same emissions in the years 2008 to 2010. Emissions in those three years were on average 4.5% below emissions in 2005. In the year 2020, the target set for Ireland is that emissions should be 20 per cent below their value in 2005. This is jointly the most demanding 2020 reduction target allocated under the ESD and one shared only by Denmark and Luxembourg. The target for each of the years 2014 through 2019 is on a straight-line trajectory between the targets for 2013 and 2020.
Taking account of methodological changes underpinning the GHG emissions inventories and projections (in line with evolutions in the accounting rules under the Kyoto Protocol second commitment period), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in May 2015 new annual emission limits and projected emissions for 2020 compared to our target. These calculations and projections indicate that Ireland’s emissions in 2020 could be in the range of 9-14% below 2005 levels by 2020. However, even in the worst case scenario (i.e. a 9% reduction), Ireland could be very close to meeting its cumulative compliance obligations for the period 2013-2020 (ESD 2009), which on average required a 12% reduction relative to 2005, given over-compliance in the early years of the 8-year period.
The projections infer that the likely cumulative outcome for the period will range between a small deficit (4Mt) and a small surplus (6Mt) of units for the period. In the event of a deficit arising, then compliance with the targets would be demonstrated by the use of the flexible mechanisms allowed for under the Effort Sharing Decision. Having already demonstrated compliance with the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, Ireland holds in excess of 5Mt of units which are allowable for such purposes.
Furthermore, in October 2014, the European Council agreed on the 2030 climate and energy policy framework for the European Union. The European Council endorsed a binding EU target of an at least 40% domestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. The target will be delivered collectively by the EU in the most cost-effective manner possible, with the reductions in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and non-ETS sectors amounting to 43% and 30%, respectively, by 2030 compared to 2005.
All Member States within the Union will participate in this effort, balancing considerations of fairness and solidarity. While Member State targets for 2030 are yet to be agreed, it is known that targets will be in the range of a 0% to 40% reduction relative to 2005, and that targets for Member States whose GDP per capita is above average should be adjusted to reflect cost effectiveness in a fair and balanced manner. A Commission proposal on this matter is expected towards the end of the second quarter of 2016.
The extent of the challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in line with our EU commitments, is well understood by Government, as reflected in the National Policy Position on Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development, published in April 2014, and in the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill 2015, recently passed by the Dáil and currently at Committee Stage in the Seanad. The National Policy Position provides a high-level policy direction for the adoption and implementation by Government of plans to enable the State to move to a low-carbon economy by 2050. Proposed statutory authority for the plans is set out in the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill 2015.
In anticipation of enactment of the planned legislation, work is already underway on developing a low carbon plan, the National Mitigation Plan, the primary objective of which will be to track implementation of measures already underway and identify additional measures in the longer term to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and progress the overall national low carbon transition agenda to 2050. The first iteration of the National Mitigation Plan will place particular focus on putting the necessary measures in place to address the challenge to 2020 but also in terms of planning ahead to ensure that appropriate policies and measures will be in place beyond that. In this context, key sectors in the low carbon transition process (electricity, transport, built environment and agriculture) are currently developing sectoral mitigation measures in tandem with Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) processes during which measures will be further developed and prioritised.
To ensure a continued transparent and inclusive process, the Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping Report on the National Mitigation Plan is currently out for consultation to both the general public and statutory consultees and the input received from these consultations will further inform the SEA process.
226. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the degree to which air and water pollution continues to be monitored; if notable results have been found on foot of which any corrective action is required; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38812/15]
View answerAir quality monitoring in Ireland is carried out to meet the requirements of EU Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, also known as the CAFE Directive. The Directive requires that certain minimum levels of monitoring are conducted for the purpose of assessment and management of air quality. The EPA has responsibility for the monitoring of air quality in Ireland, and monitors a range of atmospheric pollutants, based on data obtained from the 31 monitoring stations that form the national ambient air quality network.
The EPA publishes an annual report on air quality, based primarily on the monitoring requirements of the CAFE Directive. The most recent report, Air Quality in Ireland 2014– Key Indicators of Ambient Air Quality, was published in September 2015 and provides an assessment of air quality in Ireland for 2014, compared to the CAFE Directive standards, as well as assessments in relation to more stringent World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines for the protection of human health and the European Environment Agency (EEA) estimated reference levels.
I welcome the fact that no levels above the EU limit value were recorded at any of the ambient air quality network monitoring sites in Ireland in 2014, while noting that Ireland exceeds WHO air quality guideline values for particulate matter (PM) in some areas. Particulate matter levels are of concern, particularly during the winter heating season in some areas where the sale of smoky coal is permitted. Because of this, levels of particulate matter in smaller towns can often be similar to, or higher than, those in cities where the sale and use of smoky coal is banned. To help protect our good air quality, consumers must become more aware of their choice in home heating fuel and the potential impact that this choice can have on air quality in their locality and on human health.
In respect of monitoring of water quality, the EPA, local authorities, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Marine Institute all monitor rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters, and groundwater quality under the Water Framework Directive. This extensive monitoring programme provides a good overview of current water quality and trends as they develop.
In its recently published Water Quality in Ireland 2010-2012 report, the EPA outlines the most recent results from this monitoring programme. The report shows an improvement in the quality of Ireland’s waters over the period in question. However, the report also points out the key pressures which must be addressed in the context of the Water Framework Directive. A copy of this report and other comprehensive reports on water quality compiled by the EPA are available for download at http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/water/waterqua.
In accordance with the Water Framework Directive, these challenges are being addressed by the development of River Basin Management Plans. Ireland is now preparing its second round of Plans which will be in place by the end of 2017. A public consultation process which seeks views on what are the significant water management issues to be addressed in the second cycle of Plans will conclude on 18 December 2015. Submissions received in response to this consultation, and further consultation in 2016 on draft River Basin Management Plans, will be taken into account in the preparation of the final Plans.
227. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which it is expected to deal with waste management by way of reduce, reuse and recycle strategies, landfills continue to be relied upon or incineration is used, or proposed, as a means of waste management; the number of landfills currently in operation; the number of incinerators dealing with domestic waste; the extent to which the residues continue to be managed and dealt with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38813/15]
View answer228. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if studies have been done with a view to reducing the cost of waste management; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38814/15]
View answer230. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which reprocessing and recycling facilities are available in respect of plastic and rubber, with particular reference to the extent to which such facilities are readily available; the extent to which incentivisation is available to encourage investment in the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38816/15]
View answer231. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which consideration will be provided to encourage the collection and recycling of household plastic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38817/15]
View answer232. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the steps taken to encourage the provision of properly co-ordinated glass and plastic waste collection systems, with a view to the provision of a comprehensive recycling programme that is readily available to the householder who may not have the means of travelling to bottle banks or to other recycling facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38818/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 227, 228 and 230 to 232, inclusive, together.
Ireland has met, or is on course to meet, all of its main targets under the Waste Framework Directive, the Landfill Directive, the Batteries Directive, the WEEE Directive, and the Packaging Directive. Moreover, the National Waste Report 2012, which sets out the latest annual data and which is available on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, www.epa.ie, indicates that 40% of municipal waste was recycled in 2012: this compares with a 20.7% recycling rate ten years previously in 2002. The report further highlights the fact that municipal solid waste (MSW) generation has decreased in the period 2006 to 2012, while the recovery of MSW generated has increased over the same period.
Government waste policy is predicated on the waste hierarchy as set out in the Waste Framework Directive and seeks to minimise the generation of waste. A number of specific measures have been, and will continue to be, introduced to reduce the volume of waste generated in the State in line with Government policy. Recent examples include the further roll-out of food waste collection services, and the introduction of three Regional Waste Management Plans in May 2015 which have a clear focus on waste prevention and resource efficiency.
Towards a Resource Efficient Ireland- A National Strategy to 2020, which is available on my Department’s website at the following web link, http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Environment/Waste/WasteManagement/, incorporates Ireland’s National Waste Prevention Programme and sets out priorities for preventing waste generation and the unnecessary consumption of materials, energy and water. The title of this document reflects the shift in emphasis at national and EU level towards resource efficiency, as opposed to focussing purely on waste prevention. In this regard, I intend to publish a consultation paper shortly on how the State can best maximise the value we extract from the waste we cannot prevent, especially in terms of maximising the job creation and energy potential of waste, while minimising our impact on the environment.
In relation to supporting higher rates of household recycling of various waste streams the introduction of pay-by-weight as a collection permit condition as of 1 July 2015 and the forthcoming introduction of mandatory pay-by-weight charging for household waste in July 2016 and for commercial waste later in 2016 will be of central importance. Pay-by-weight charging will provide clear continuous pricing incentives to households and businesses to not only prevent, but also to segregate their waste to the greatest possible extent, which will further stimulate the collection and processing of recyclables materials. The additional availability of such material, such as food waste and recyclable plastic, provides an opportunity to the business sector and investors to exploit the potential of these resources. In addition, pay-by-weight charging will not be applied to the separate collection of glass, further encouraging this type of collection.
Considerable progress is being made towards the virtual phasing out of landfill for municipal waste. 28 landfills were accepting municipal waste for disposal in 2009 but only 7 landfills are now accepting such waste in 2015. While Ireland remains significantly reliant on export of our waste for treatment elsewhere, other domestic treatment facilities are coming on stream. The active and expected capacity for the thermal recovery of municipal solid waste is set out in the three recently launched Regional Waste Management Plans for the 2015-2021 period. The Plans support the development of up to another 300,000 tonnes of additional thermal recovery capacity in the State, including through the use of Solid Recovered Fuel in cement kilns; waste to energy; and pyrolysis. Currently, there is one waste-to-energy facility operating in the State at Carranstown Co. Meath, with an active capacity of 220,000 tonnes. The Dublin Waste-to-Energy plant under construction in Poolbeg has a pending capacity of 600,000 tonnes and is due to be fully operational in the second half of 2017. Information regarding the management of residues from waste to energy facilities is set out in each individual plant’s EPA licence, available on the EPA ’s website, www.epa.ie.
As I have previously stated, Government policy is geared towards preventing waste in the first instance and then managing waste which cannot be prevented as a resource. In this regard, the above measures I have outlined are among the many actions being undertaken to ensure that Ireland will be well positioned to meet the requirements of the new European Commission proposal on the Circular Economy, which is expected to be published in December 2015.
229. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when he expects to be in a position to publish revised guidelines in respect of the construction of wind farms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38815/15]
View answerIn December 2013, my Department published proposed “draft” revisions to the noise, setbacks and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed:
- the setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments;
- a mandatory minimum setback of 500 metres between a wind turbine and the nearest dwelling for amenity considerations; and
- the complete elimination of shadow flicker between wind turbines and neighbouring dwellings.
A public consultation process was initiated on these proposed draft revisions to the Guidelines, which ran until February 21 2014. My Department received submissions from 7,500 organisations and members of the public during this public consultation process. It is intended that the revisions to the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines will be finalised as soon as possible. In this regard, account has to be taken of the extensive response to the public consultation in framing the final guidelines. Further work is also advancing to develop technical appendices to assist planning authorities with the practical application of the noise measurement aspects of the Wind Guidelines. My Department is advancing work on the Guidelines in conjunction with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
The revisions to the Wind Energy Development Guidelines 2006, when finalised, will be issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Planning authorities, and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála are required to have regard to guidelines issued under Section 28 in the performance of their functions under the Planning Acts.
233. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which the pyrite remediation programme will be reviewed with a view to identifying the number of households who have incurred considerable expenditure privately and who are currently not listed for support; if these cases will be examined with a view to determining the number that exist and how best to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38819/15]
View answerThe Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework within which the pyrite remediation scheme must operate. It is not a compensation scheme and Section 14(8) of the Act explicitly provides that homeowners cannot seek the recoupment of costs associated with the remediation of a dwelling undertaken outside of the pyrite remediation scheme. I have no plans to review the legislation in this regard.
The pyrite remediation scheme is a scheme of “last resort” for affected homeowners who have no other practical option to obtain redress. Inclusion in the scheme is predicated, inter alia, on the dwelling being subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave, and where this can be verified having regard to I.S. 398 -1:2013 Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and Categorisation, as published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, prior to works commencing. This is in line with how similar Government schemes operate or have operated in the past, where prior approval is a key eligibility requirement for inclusion in a scheme.
In general, building defects are matters for resolution between the contracting parties, i.e. the homeowner, the builder, the supplier and/or their respective insurers. In the event that the parties cannot reach a settlement by negotiation, the option of seeking redress in the courts is available.
234. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the cost to date of remediating unauthorised or illegal dumping at the various identified locations; the extent to which provisions are in place to prevent any recurrences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38820/15]
View answerIn April 2005, the European Court of Justice ruled, in case C-494/01, that Ireland had infringed the Waste Framework Directive under various articles of that Directive. The response of the Irish authorities to the case has two main elements - a general response addressing the structural or administrative deficiencies highlighted by the ECJ and, secondly, a response to the site-specific cases themselves. In addition, certain other complaints or issues which had been taken against or raised with Ireland by the European Commission were subsumed under the case and were therefore part of a broader response which was required by Ireland to bring finality to the case. This response has been delivered successfully leading to the recent closure of the case by the European Commission. Remediation of the C-494/01 case sites was a requirement for the recent closure of the infringement proceedings. Accordingly, several legacy licensed and unlicensed landfill sites have required remediation since the judgment and some others have arisen in the interim which must be remediated over the course of the next few years for environmental, economic and reputational reasons.
My Department’s total expenditure to end 2014 on landfill remediation is €71 million with a further allocation of €8.5 million in Exchequer funding for 2015. A significant proportion of this amount will go towards the remediation of the illegal landfill at Kerdiffstown, County Kildare.
To prevent future recurrence of illegal dumping activities, my Department has introduced a series of measures in recent years that have improved and modernised Ireland’s waste infrastructure and services. These include the centralisation of the waste collection permitting system and trans-frontier waste shipment into single local authorities, the establishment of the Office for Environmental Enforcement (OEE) within the EPA, and the provision of dedicated funding from the Environment Fund for enforcement staff within local authorities.
These reforms have been key to strengthening the Government’s efforts to combat illegal dumping activity. In addition, Cork County Council, Dublin City Council and Leitrim and Donegal County Councils (jointly) were recently announced as the new Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities. They will be tasked with driving further performance improvements by individual local authorities in carrying out their waste enforcement functions and with ensuring consistency between local authorities. Their work will be overseen by a National Steering Committee that will involve other regulatory bodies with a link to waste crime, including the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and An Garda Síochána.
