The Waste Management Act 1996 and the Waste Management (Licensing) Regulations 2004 govern the process under which waste licences are applied for and maintained. Once granted, each waste licence defines the nature of environmentally acceptable activities that can take place at a waste facility. This is done by the conditions of the licence which are set by the Environmental Protection Agency. I have no function in relation either to the setting of operating conditions or to their enforcement at a waste licensed facility, and under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996, the Minister is precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to the performance by the Environmental Protection Agency, in particular circumstances, of a statutory function vested in it. Accordingly, queries with regard to bird control at landfills should be directed to the Agency.
The licences of individual landfills, which include (where appropriate) bird control conditions to control nuisance, are available to view online at www.epa.ie