Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Once again the Taoiseach has avoided addressing the questions put to him. He did not address the issue of the decision of Dublin City Council last Monday and the support for the Sinn Féin motion of many of his own party's representatives in the city. He has not called on the Dublin city manager to respect the democratic wishes of the elected representatives of the city council. He has not called on the board of the EPA to make itself amenable to its own oral hearings. He has continued to obfuscate, which is clearly his penchant at almost all times. Does the Taoiseach accept that this is primarily an issue about democracy and public health? That is what we are talking about here.

When the people of County Louth dissented about the north-east waste management strategy because it imposed incineration, the former Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Noel Dempsey, incinerated democracy. He took the power from the hands of local councillors and vested it in county and city managers under whose diktat he was able to impose the plans. We are now faced with an incinerator at Carronstown, County Meath, the hearings for which will commence in the week of the by-election in Meath and Kildare North. That is a very important date. With everything the Taoiseach has said, it is apparent he was more taken by his visit to China than he has admitted heretofore, having been absolutely impressed by the powers of the mayor of Shanghai in respect of planning matters. I assure the Taoiseach that the electorate in this country will not accept Shanghai-type standards in democracy or public health, or indeed the planning process, something the Taoiseach and his party know far too much about.

See this speech in context