Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I agree with Senator Coghlan that the House should debate the issue of waste management. The Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will be discussing issues relating to this matter later today. There is a particular need to question the publication of the ESRI report earlier this morning. I have great respect for the ESRI and its work on economic and social issues. However, I do not believe it has the expertise necessary to deal with environmental issues. That the report in question was commissioned by Dublin City Council to counter the international waste review undertaken and overseen by officials of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is a worrying development. If we commission expert reports within government and ensure they are compiled and published in a open way and then have them second-guessed by people to whom they do not relate, problems will arise in the context of how decisions are made and resources allocated.