Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This matter was raised by Deputy Whitmore in the Dáil last year. Other Deputies have raised issues that companies were having with the EPA in obtaining determinations of licences. I was keen to ensure that this was not due to a lack of resources and that the EPA was properly resourced so I made inquiries to ensure the agency had what it needed. I understand progress has been made. Deputy Whitmore raised the case of a particular company and I understand it obtained a determination in the end. However, it should not take years to reach decisions. Inquiries were made into why things were taking so long. We made sure there was sufficient funding in place this year. There should be better communication with those applying for determinations of licences and there should not be a situation where forms are not correctly filled in, information is not available and applicants need to go back and forth.

It is also important to say that we have to ensure the determinations are made carefully. For example, a large number of houses will probably be demolished because they were defective or had mica blocks in them. It is important that the waste material from that demolition does not re-enter the construction stream to be used a second time and that a determination is not made that this is a useful material for load-bearing walls or suchlike. It is not just a case of rapidly agreeing that everything that needs to go back into recirculation should be licensed as such. That said, the system needs to be sped up. I believe the EPA has sufficient funding this time and its budget is not a constraint at this stage in that area. I recognise, however, that there were problems.