Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2031. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he is satisfied that there is sufficient capacity in landfill sites to cater for the increase in construction waste; and if not, his plans to increase capacity or to make alternative arrangements. [32722/18]
View answer2032. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the locations in which he plans to allow disposal of construction waste; the locations in which construction waste is received and disposed of; the basis for licensing; and the limits governing this increase in construction waste disposal. [32723/18]
View answer2033. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the amount of available landfill here in terms of capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32724/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 2031 to 2033, inclusive, together.
My Department continues to engage with the three Regional Waste Management Planning Lead Authorities and other environmental regulatory bodies on the issue of managing construction and demolition (C&D) waste. A Construction Waste Resource Group has been convened. This Group comprises the key construction and demolition waste stakeholders, which will provide a useful platform to discuss and monitor C&D waste issues, including the capacity of the sector to manage its construction and demolition waste.
C&D Permitted Sites, which are facilities authorised by Local Authorities, cannot have a lifetime capacity exceeding 100,000 tonnes for class 5 (recovery of excavation or dredge soil through deposition for the purposes of the improvement or development of land) or 50,000 for class 6 (recovery of inert waste through deposition for the purposes of the improvement or development of land) materials. These limits are set under the Waste Management (Facility Permit and Registration) Regulations 2007, as amended.
The Waste Management Act 1996 and the Waste Management (Licensing) Regulations 2004 govern the process under which waste licences are applied for and maintained. Once granted, each waste licence defines the nature of environmentally acceptable activities that can take place at a waste facility, including the acceptable types of waste that can be received. This is done by the conditions of the licence which are set by the Environmental Protection Agency. I have no function in relation either to the setting of operating conditions or to their enforcement. It is a key aspect of the legislation, passed by the Oireachtas, to establish the EPA, that the Agency is entirely independent of the Minister in the exercise of its functions.
In terms of the detail of landfill capacity for C&D waste, including for inert and non-inert non-hazardous C&D waste, comprehensive detail on EPA licences is available on the EPA’s website at http://www.epa.ie/licensing/ and further information is also available from the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability at Licensing@epa.ie. Similarly, information on planning permissions or applications for planning permissions should be available from the relevant Planning Authority or An Bord Pleanála.
Waste management planning, including with regard to infrastructure provision, is the responsibility of local authorities under Part II of the Waste Management Act, 1996 (as amended). Under section 60(3) of the Act, I am precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to the performance, in specific cases, by a local authority or the Agency of their statutory functions under the Act.
