Mr. Mark Griffin:

At a committee meeting last year we discussed where we were in dealing with the legacy landfills in the State. I believe the issue was raised by Deputy Connolly. At the time I said that right across the regional waste management plans there were some 71 sites that were identified as category A, which are high risk sites. The correspondence for this meeting sets out where we are with the sites that have progressed through a process. The sites are categorised as A, B and C. A is high risk and B and C are lower risk. The process that is needed to determine what is required for the remediation of the sites is set out in a tiered hierarchy. The basic tier one investigation may conclude that minimal or no further work is required and that the site is not a high risk. Once we have gone through a tier one investigation and the conclusion is for a more a more detailed analysis, then a tier two and tier three assessment is done.

The output of that process is certification of authorisation from the EPA and this sets out a work programme that is to be undertaken in each of the sites. That work programme is funded by the State. The committee will see from Table 1-----