Under the Waste Management Acts, statutory responsibility for the making of regional waste management plans, which includes determinations in regard to the waste management infrastructure appropriate to each region, rests with the local authority (or local authorities) concerned and my Department has no function in this regard.
The proposed development in question is by a private company and my Department has no function in relation to this facility. The facility at Carranstown has had approval from An Bord Pleanála and the EPA for some years. In October 2007 An Bord Pleanála approved an increase in the capacity of the plant from 150,000 tonnes per annum to 200,000 tonnes per annum.
The planning and waste licensing processes operate independently and I am specifically precluded from involvement in a matter for which the An Bord Pleanála or the EPA have statutory responsibility.
My Department and I hold regular consultations with stakeholders in the context of the ongoing implementation of Government policy on waste management. Consulting widely, with a range of stakeholders, is designed to ensure that my Department and I have as full as possible an understanding of the issues and concerns of stakeholders and are therefore in a position to address them, where it is possible and appropriate to do so.
On 12 February 2008 my Department met with representatives of the proposers of the project in question. The latter had requested the meeting to outline their proposals in relation to this facility and another proposed facility at Ringaskiddy. My Department took the opportunity to outline my position on incineration, which I have stated many times on the record, including in relation to the key role envisaged for Mechanical and Biological Treatment and the need therefore to ensure that there was not over-capacity in the treatment options available for the residual waste.
There was, of course, no question of these discussions comprehending matters proper to the physical planning or environmental licensing processes from which I, and my Department, are precluded from involvement.
The Programme for Government clearly sets out the approach to waste management that will be reflected in national policy in the years ahead. It is firmly grounded in a continuing commitment to the waste hierarchy with a renewed drive towards the achievement of international best practice in the reduction, re-use and recycling of our waste. This, coupled with an increasing emphasis on technologies for the mechanical and biological treatment of waste, will significantly reduce potential reliance on landfill and incineration.
