Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I, too, wish Deputy Hogan well in his appointment as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. He faces massive challenges, not only in waste management but in many other areas as well. I wish him well in that regard.

The plastic bag levy, since its introduction in 2002, has achieved significant waste reductions. I welcomed it at the time. Many of the funds raised through the levy have gone into investment in areas of recycling and bring centres in local authorities throughout the country.

This new legislation will give flexibility to the Minister to utilise the levy in whatever way he sees fit where further resources are needed to encourage and support schemes and initiatives such as the green school initiative and infrastructure in local communities. It is important that we keep the waste hierarchy at the top of our priorities when we speak about waste management priorities. Packaging is an area that must be tackled in this regard.

Waterford County Council has shown exemplary leadership in this area where it developed the recycling centre in Dungarvan. It is a modern recycling centre that services large areas of the south east. This recycling centre is under pressure for viability reasons because waste streams are not reaching it as there are other cheaper waste stream options. It is a matter of which the Minister must take note.

There is over reliance on landfill. There are serious legacy issues, which will not go away and for which the State must pay. I welcome the Minister's statement today on his intention that there will be clear direction on national waste management policy because over the past number of years there has not been a coherent, clear national waste management policy. In 2002, a number of regional waste management plans were introduced. Thermal treatment facilities were mentioned in each of them but they have been lying in abeyance for the past number of years because the former Minister, Mr. Gormley, started to introduce his own policies, which seemed personal to him but did not apply around the country. There is a need for clarity in that area. If there is to be direction and investment in waste management it certainly must be addressed and we need to look at all waste management solutions when we do so.

Thermal treatment must be looked at as an option. It is in use in many major European cities. We must have stringent monitoring and regulation if that option is to be taken up. I will not stand accused of declaring "Not in my back yard", just because it is not in my area in Waterford because I grew up within 500 m of a municipal landfill with which there are legacy issues. At present, I live within 500 m of a modern sludge management plant with which there are odour issues but we live with it and we work with the local authority and the owners because we realise it is necessary. A waste stream goes in there and there is a general acceptance that it is needed.

One big problem, which is a legacy issue in the heart of my community, is the former site of Irish Tanners. It was a State-established company set up by Seán Lemass in the mid-1930s, where an old millpond was dumped with industrial waste for nearly 50 years. That still lies contaminated - three acres of it - in the heart of a community and adjacent to all the services of a town. It is not being addressed because the local authority does not have the resources or the capacity to deal with it. The EPA is investigating it but little progress has been made in dealing with the contamination issues that continue there.

As I have an interest in this area in 2007 and with the help of the Oireachtas Library I produced a research paper on landfills and remediation. I was horrified to note that in 2006, €18 million was spent on remediation. An EPA assessment at that time estimated that €142 million would be required to remediate the known landfills, not including the private landfills such as the one of which I spoke. There is a significant legacy issue. If we are to continue in the use of landfill we must bear the brunt and cost of the legacies they would leave. We as a State cannot afford that.

We must explore new ways of dealing with our waste. I would ask the Minister to explore ways of recouping the investment already made in the remediation of landfills, such as the municipal ones in Waterford and Tramore in my constituency where approximately €3 million was invested in remediation by the State. We no longer have the capacity to continue with landfill and putting our waste and our money into the ground. We need to bite the bullet on these decisions. We need clarity and direction and a proper waste management infrastructure. I call on the Minister to develop that.

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