Mr. John McCarthy:

As the Deputy knows, the Poolbeg project is being progressed by Dublin City Council on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities. They are doing that as part of their implementation of the waste management plan for Dublin. Those responsibilities are assigned statutorily to the local authorities under the waste management Acts. Apart from some initial grant assistance of about €7.5 million up to 2005 at early stages in the project's conception, the Department has provided no Exchequer funding towards the project. It is to be funded through the contractual arrangement between the local authorities and the private partner. Accountability for the project rests at local government level and that accountability arrangement is active.

As regards the local government auditor's report, the Deputy pointed to the issues the auditor raised. Discussions have taken place by the elected members, as well as considerations by the council's audit committee. Changes that were made in the governance arrangements were subject to more positive comment in the auditor's report for 2012. The project has been discussed in the House by another committee on a number of occasions, most recently earlier this year. As far as the Department is concerned, it is a matter for the Dublin local authorities to carry the project forward.