Vol. 508 No. 1
595 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if funds will be made available by his Department to substantially upgrade all existing landfill sites in the control of local authorities. [17686/99]
The polluter pays principle precludes the subvention by the Exchequer of costs associated with the development, operation, closure and aftercare of local authority landfill facilities.
The 1998 policy statement, Changing our Ways, emphasises the need to move rapidly from reliance on a large number of often problematic landfill facilities to an integrated network of waste management facilities, employing environmentally beneficial technologies, and incorporating a small number of state of the art landfills for residual wastes. There is considerable scope for the provision and operation of the requisite infrastructure by means of public private partnership arrangements, involving capital investment by the private sector.
Where local authorities are required in the short-term to upgrade existing facilities, in order to meet the high environmental standards being applied by the EPA in licensing waste disposal facilities, it is open to those authorities to utilise own resources to ensure full recoupment of the costs involved.
