Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I cast people's minds back to the 1970s when I first became aware of the environment. In my town of Carrick-on-Suir and in many other towns there were open dumps, as they were known, landfills, while raw sewerage was running into the River Suir and there was no air quality monitoring. We also had the beginning of the famous Hanrahan v. Merck Sharp and Dohme case which finished ten years later in the Supreme Court in which Mr. Hanrahan, who lives three miles from my home, won a very important judgment against the US company. That set the scene and was the backdrop to the setting up of the EPA.
The EPA was established in 1992 under the Environmental Protection Agency Act. It was strengthened by the Waste Management Act 1996 and by the Protection of the Environment Act 2003. It was mandated to protect the environment, monitor changes in the environment, and detect early warning signs of neglect and deterioration. It was the body that was supposed to police local authorities and industry on behalf of the Irish citizen. Its primary functions were to licence, enforce, oversee environmental planning, monitor, analyse and report. It was also charged with environmental research and waste management control and it was supposed to carry out these functions without fear or favour.
Management of air quality is a major issue. Up to that time, municipal waste and commercial waste was disposed of in landfills across the country without any monitoring. Since 1992, the EPA has been responsible for this monitoring. How successful has it been in monitoring air quality, water quality and landfill? While local authorities still have control and have functions regarding landfill, air and other areas, the EPA is the overarching body. In 2013, the EPA, as the national agency for the protection of air, water and landfill, undertook 11 prosecutions in three counties in areas such as waste discharge, landfill and other waste areas. All of these prosecutions were against local authorities; none was against industry or commercial entities.
The local authority, as per the 1992 Act, must have regard to the instructions of the EPA and the EPA can instruct local authorities to carry out certain functions. How much of this is being done? Section 54 of the 1992 Act provides for the Minister to transfer any role or function from the local authority to the EPA. This has been done in many instances, as the Minister is aware, such as in the area of waste management. In view of what has been outlined by Senator John Whelan, I ask the Minister whether it is time to reverse this provision and give these functions back to local authorities who have local accountability through locally elected representatives so that the people on the ground can feel safe.
The 2002 programme for Government set up an office of enforcement to establish an audit performance system for local authorities. Who is auditing the performance of the EPA? In my opinion, nobody is doing so, and for that reason we do not know whether it is doing a good, bad or indifferent job.
I return to Hanrahan v. Merck Sharp and Dohme, the outcome of which was that John Hanrahan won the case in the Supreme Court. The outcome for the area where I live in south Tipperary was that we have a better environment and 350 jobs in Merck Sharp and Dohme, which is an excellent employer in the area and one of the biggest drivers of the economy. Therefore, industry and the environment can live hand in hand but the policing body is not doing its job. I support Senator John Whelan. If the EPA does not do the job properly, should it be in place?