Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The second issue relating to oversight is one which I brought up with Mr. McCarthy's predecessor at this committee. I have also raised it on numerous occasions through parliamentary questions and my predecessor, the former Labour Party Deputy for Wicklow, Ms Liz McManus also raised it in the Dáil as far back as February 2010. I do not want Mr. McCarthy to get into the political decision making on this, but I wish to tease out the oversight role of the Department, as underpinned by legislation. I understand that it is not the Department's responsibility to run local government. However, if something goes wrong or if there is a concern about something going wrong at local government level and that concern is brought to the attention of the Department, the issue is what action the Department takes, or unfortunately, in my experience, does not take. I am referring specifically to the issuing of a waste permit in County Wicklow. While the specific case is an issue for Wicklow, my worry is that it could happen in any county. A waste licence was issued in Ballybeg in County Wicklow. We do not need to get into the complexities of the issue but the licence was sent to the EPA and was subsequently shredded. There was significant concern about why a licence was issued to a certain operator and then shredded. The point of me raising this issue with Mr. McCarthy is that Wicklow County Council held a special emergency meeting on Monday 25 January 2010. At that meeting a resolution was passed and sent to the Department. That resolution read as follows:

We call on the Department to appoint a public local inquiry under section 212 of the Local Government Act 2001 to inquire into, and report upon, all aspects of the performance of the functions of Wicklow County Council concerning the grant of a waste permit relating to the creation of a borrow pit on certain lands belonging to the Byrne family of Ballybeg, near Rathnew, and the subsequent treatment, by Officers of the Council, of documents, evidence and other information relevant to that grant. We also ask that the Department's role in relation to an investigation requested by councillors and the reported loss of files by the Local Government Audit Service investigation, be investigated.

I was a councillor at that time. An overwhelming majority of local representatives, on a cross-party basis, agreed that there was a problem and that they needed the Department to look into in on their behalf. That resolution or motion was sent, under the Local Government Act, to the Department. The issue actually goes back to 2002 or 2003. The former Deputy, Liz McManus raised it in the Dáil in February 2010 but basically, from what I can see, nothing happened. The request was acknowledged by the Department and the correspondence trail went dry. I raised it with Mr. McCarthy's predecessor here and in fairness to her, she came back and said that the Department had no further evidence of wrongdoing. The point was that the Department was asked to set up an inquiry to look into the issue. The local representatives were not asking if the Department had any evidence of wrongdoing. There is provision under the Local Government Act for public inquiries. The issue here is broader than Wicklow. The question is, what do local councillors have to do to get the Department to look into an issue of serious concern? Councillors were waving red flags, asking for help having identified a problem and asking that the Department look into it but the response from the Department, in the view of many public representatives and residents in Wicklow was mute.
I do not expect Mr. McCarthy to be familiar with all of the details of the case but I can provide him with a copy of the minutes of the aforementioned special meeting which give a very clear overview of the concerns. I would ask that the Department would reflect on how it deals with investigations against that backdrop. The Department has an oversight role. There is provision for a public inquiry in the Local Government Act and I am just wondering what the criteria is for an issue to merit such an inquiry. It is extremely disconcerting for local representatives when they express concerns but the Department does not respond, in my view, in a proactive manner. Would Mr. McCarthy be willing to look at the correspondence again?