Mr. John McCarthy:

This issue has been raised with the Northern Ireland authorities on a number of occasions. There is strong but probably anecdotal evidence that a large proportion of the waste in Monaghan, Louth and other Border counties from diesel washing originates from activities in Northern Ireland. The difficulty is finding proof to support what is anecdotal evidence more than anything else. We have been in discussions with Monaghan County Council and are funding a pilot programme of sampling abandoned laundering waste material. It is being put through a process of analysis and we are trying to see if we can trace particular markers to see whether they are associated with markers and dyes in fuel south or north of the Border. We are waiting for the State Laboratory to come back to us with the results of these tests. Depending on what they tell us, they may provide us with a more solid base and more concrete evidence.