I have been authorised by the Government Decisions to take responsibility for overseeing the submission of an application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regularise the licensing status of the East Tip of the Ispat site in relation to the hazardous waste deposited there. In this context I established two groups. The Working Group has been established to advise and assist me and is chaired by an official of my Department. The Group consists of officials from Departments of Environment, Community and Local Government; Defence; Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; Public Expenditure and Reform; Cork County Council and the Office of Public Works.
The second is a Steering Group to oversee the licence application and to act as a consultative forum for interested parties, to reflect the concerns of the community and to represent the public interest and the stakeholders. The Group is chaired by me with membership from the Naval Service, Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE), Port of Cork, National Maritime College, local public representatives and the Working Group.
The Steering Group has met on three occasions to date — 29 July 2011 and 28 October 2011 and 24 February 2012. The Working Group has met on four occasions to date — 29 July 2011, 19 August 2011, 28 October 2011 and 24 February 2012.
It is envisaged that expenditure of €40m will be incurred to undertake the necessary capital works associated with landfill licence application for the East Tip. The money is to be channelled through my Department to Cork County Council, and drawn down by the Council on a phased basis as the work is carried out.
Cork County Council has developed a project plan involving seven phases to submit the licence application to the EPA. It envisages that the preparation of a waste licence application and all associated works to take 12-16 months and based on this timetable it is envisaged that the application will be made to the EPA in autumn of this year. The consideration of the licence by the EPA could take a minimum of nine months which indicates that the licence could be awarded in the summer of 2013.
