Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2017
963. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his attention has been drawn to the aftercare costs, some in excess of €35 million, facing some local authorities for closed landfills; and if these costs were recouped in full from the waste operators that used these landfills. [46285/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra964. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if local authorities subsidised waste operators for the aftercare costs incurred by the authorities due to closed landfills; and if they applied the polluter pays principle and other relevant national and EU legislation when calculating full cost recovery. [46286/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 963 and 964 together.
Waste management planning, including with regard to infrastructure provision, is the responsibility of local authorities under Part II of the Waste Management Act, 1996 (as amended). Under section 60(3) of that Act, I am precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to the performance, in specific cases, by a local authority of their statutory functions under the Act. Accordingly, I have no role in setting gate fees at landfills operated by a local authority.
The licensing of a landfill is a matter for the Environmental Protection Agency. Section 53(A) of the Waste Management Act, 1996 (as amended) requires that the price charged for disposal of waste in a landfill must not be less than the total costs necessary for the three purposes set out in Section 53(A)(4). These are:
1. the costs incurred by the operator in the acquisition or development, or both (as the case may be), of the facility,
2. the costs of operating the facility during the relevant period (including the costs of making any financial provision under section 53), and
3. the estimated costs, during a period of not less than 30 years or such greater period as may be prescribed, of the closure, restoration, remediation or aftercare of the facility.
It is a strategic objective of the Agency to ensure that sites with significant closure and aftercare costs, or with the potential for high liabilities arising from incidents, make financial provision to cover these liabilities. To that end, the Agency secures financial provision for liabilities at licensed facilities, including waste facilities, using a range of financial instruments including secured funds, bonds, parental company guarantees and insurance policies.
Under section 60(3) of that Act, I am precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to the performance, in specific cases, by the Agency of their statutory functions under the Act.
