(Dublin North-West) asked the Minister for the Environment the present position regarding the dumping of toxic waste in the West Finglas area of Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Toxic Waste Dumping.
11.
Dublin County Council decided at meetings in October 1980 and March 1981 to approve proposals for the provision of limited facilities for the disposal, under strict supervision, of certain kinds of industrial waste at the Dunsink tiphead. The arrangement does not extend to wastes which are toxic or dangerous within the meaning of the relevant EEC directive. The operation of the tip in line with the decisions referred to is a matter for the county council.
(Dublin North-West): Is the Minister aware that there is widespread concern regarding the dumping of toxic materials and toxic waste at these tipheads? Further, is he aware that this toxic dump at Finglas has been the subject of great contention, discussion and argument towards effecting a satisfactory resolution that would enable this dump to be transferred from this area, which has one of the highest densities of young children in the Dublin area? Would the Minister give an undertaking to the House that he will have the toxic dump in Finglas investigated with a view to removing it from the vicinity of all these young children?
I understand from the Deputy, from a number of other Deputies in the House and deputations received in my Department in this matter, that there is concern in the area about this dump. I should underline again that it is not waste which is dangerous within the meaning of the relevant EEC directive which is being put into this tiphead. What is going in there is monitored extremely carefully by both Dublin County Council and the IIRS. It will be dumped there for only a limited time, and failing to obtain a disposal site for this waste could endanger jobs. I do not want to make too much of this, but it is one of the reasons why Dublin County Council said that it was incumbent on them to provide such a facility in their area. Jobs in certain industries within the Dublin region could be endangered. I appreciate the concern of the people living in the area in this regard and, as I said in answer to a question here, I am pursuing as the most urgent priority in my Department the establishment of a facility that will allow waste from industries to be disposed of in a safe manner. I am doing that as a matter of extreme urgency in my Department.
(Dublin North-West): Is the Minister aware that members of his own party are engaged in a protest group and would disagree entirely with the reply he has given to the House? They maintain that toxic waste is dumped there, irrespective of what he has said.
I have no knowledge of what the Deputy is referring to. I assure him that anything that has been put into that dump is being monitored extremely carefully by Dublin County Council and the IIRS and will be put in only on the basis of the decision reached by Dublin County Council members themselves in April or May of this year.
(Dublin North-West): Is the Minister aware that this waste is by definition toxic? In view of the high concentration of young people in that area, the inability of parents to control them at all times and the accessibility of the pit to their wanderings and exploration, there is a direct danger to the health of young people in that area despite any safeguards that the county council are taking at present. Is the Minister aware that the siting of this dump in such an area was most ill-advised, with the decision taken as it was by Dublin County Council as distinct from Dublin Corporation? Would the Minister act immediately to have this dump closed forthwith and an alternative site found which would be out of the reach of young children and render this dump safe from the point of view of both the children and the adults who live in close proximity to it but who are not in the local authority administrative area?
As I said earlier, I will act with great urgency to see that an alternative disposal facility is made available in this regard. I could not give the undertaking requested, for two reasons: I think it would be undesirable and it is not within my power to have the dump closed.