Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

Trans-shipment is more abroad. There is a European system for controlling waste. It is interesting that at that stage the then Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government had arranged for a national office to be set up within Dublin City Council and it was licensing, overseeing and regulating the trans-shipment. It charged fees so it recovered its own costs and therefore there is not an Exchequer funding for it.

There is a limit to the extent I can get involved in that, but it is something we encourage the relevant Departments to look at in terms of the potential costs, the contingent liabilities, that are associated with cleaning up illegal sites or sites that need remediation. One way of accessing it from the committee's point of view is the environment fund, which is a fund under the current Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. I think the account for 2016 was presented relatively recently so it could be something for the committee to examine. Landfill levies go into the environment fund and the money is then used and passed on for remediation.

That would be an access point for the committee if it was so minded.