Mr. Owen Keegan:

In the material circulated to the committee we presented a forecast for 2030 which had been prepared by RPS. It basically contained ESRI forecasts. We took half the ESRI projected growth rate and assumed a 70% recycling rate. We took account of other facilities that they believed were potential destinations for municipal solid waste. Even then there was more waste than there was capacity, so there would still be need for exports in 2030 on the basis of those assumptions. Other people might have a different view, but those were the market projections endorsed by the ESRI and the Environmental Protection Agency. We took half their growth rate and we made provision for other facilities and the 70% recycling rate. Even at that, we would still need to export waste abroad. On that basis, I would be very confident that there is sufficient waste for this, operating at 550,000 tonnes. A further small point is that this plant is also licensed to take 100,000 tonnes of non-municipal waste, so there is a certain comfort in that.

I will respond to some of the other points. I regret to say I was not a manager when this arose originally. It goes back so long.