Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 April 2004
184 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his Department has provided grant aid to a company (details supplied) in County Louth over the past year; if so, the amount of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11062/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraNo grant-aid has been made available to the company in question in the past year.
The company has made an application for grant assistance under the waste management infrastructural grants scheme for private waste facilities. However, having regard to the significant levels of investment and growth in scale of the private waste industry in recent times, the process of waste industry consolidation which is in evidence and which is likely to continue, and the competing priorities for the resources available in the environment fund, I have announced earlier this week that I do not now intend to proceed with this grants scheme. Instead, I intend to divert the funding to a number of other areas including increased waste enforcement activities, which are crucial to providing the confidence that current and future investment in the legitimate waste sector will not be undermined by illegal activities competing against fully compliant operators.
