Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 12 November 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Illegal Dumping: Discussion (Resumed)

Dr. Tom Ryan:

We are active, especially with regard to SF6. We take a risk-based approach in that area. We look at the distributors. There is a system for the validation of people involved in fixing the refrigerators and such that these gases are used in. We are active in that area. We are always looking for intelligence when out on site and doing audits. On this occasion, the information happened to come through RTÉ. The ESB example is a good one in that it has put the protocols in place for future occurrences. There are ongoing issues and since this was detected there have been seven more occurrences. ESB has been dealing with those appropriately and reporting them to the local authorities. It is committed to doing site-specific assessments.