Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 6 Apr 2000

Vol. 517 No. 5

Written Answers. - Waste Management.

Alan Shatter

Ceist:

43 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the provision, if any, he has made for monitoring the performance of local authorities in the context of the Waste Management Act, 1996; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10015/00]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. D. Wallace)

Under section 59 of the Waste Management Act, 1963, each local authority is responsible for the supervision of and the enforcement of the relevant provisions of the Act in relation to the holding, recovery and disposal of waste within its functional area. The Act does not provide for oversight of such local authority functions by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government.

Section 63 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992, empowers the EPA to take specified actions where it is satisfied that a local authority has failed to perform a statutory function in relation to environmental protection or has performed such a function in an unsatisfactory manner.