Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

As I expected, the Taoiseach did not respond to the charge that a double standard operates and that a smaller landowner would not be given the generosity of section 55 of the Waste Management Act. I know a number of them who have been hauled before the court. Having discovered illegal waste on their land, they must face the rigours of the law in the course of a criminal investigation.

Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister to end what is effectively a selective approach to illegal dumping and to apply the waste regulations to illegal dumps found before 2002? The Minister is using 2002 as a benchmark but the dump to which I referred was found before that. Is it not reasonable to move back that date and ensure every instance of illegal dumping is covered rather than the more recent ones? Will the Minister look again at that loophole? Section 55 is, effectively, a loophole which means the operator of, or those responsible for, an illegal dump can decide where to locate a legal dump in the future because it regulates the illegal operation which does not need planning permission or to go through the normal site selection. This rewards criminals and must stop.

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