Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The landfill remediation grant programme was established in 2006 in recognition of the need to provide financial support to local authorities in addressing legacy landfill sites across the State. The programme aims to ensure the regularisation of historic and other identified landfill sites in order to militate against any potential harm posed by such sites to the environment and human health. The regional waste management plans 2015-21, which were required under the Waste Management Act, set out the roadmap for delivery of the programme. The plans are due for renewal in 2021 and will provide an update to the roadmap delivery to date and future delivery. The largest projects currently are Kerdiffstown, County Kildare, and Kilconnell, County Galway. The Kerdiffstown project is entering the final remediation stage with Kildare County Council and entering into contract for capital works in the fourth quarter of this year. The landfill in Kilconnell closed in 2019. The State intervened in the management of the site, providing crucial capacity to the region. The site owners went into liquidation. In line with the terms of the memorandum of understanding in place with the Department and Galway city and county councils, there is a provision for funding of the landfill aftercare and closure costs.

The expenditure in 2020 is €8.5 million in landfill remediation and €2.75 million in landfill closure and aftercare.

There is another element which is not covered here but to which I will refer because it was brought up in a North-South Ministerial Council yesterday. There are legacy landfill issues up North where waste from the South has crossed over the Border. It can often be a real issue. In cross-Border jurisdictions, one gets a lot of illegal activity around landfill. Members will be aware of this. Over the years, it has been an historical problem. The funding here is primarily for the large legacy landfill sites, in particular, the two that are being funded presently.