Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, recently granted the Republic's first two licences for commercial waste incinerators subject to stringent conditions. A priority task for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, since it was established in 1999 has been to monitor the food supply for contamination by dioxins. Concerning the introduction of waste incineration in Ireland as part of a national waste management strategy, the FSAI considers that such incineration facilities, if properly managed, will not contribute to dioxin levels in the food supply to any significant extent and will not affect food quality or safety. In order to maximise consumer protection, it is vital that rigorous monitoring programmes be maintained and that consideration be given to expanding environmental monitoring around any established incineration facilities.

Emissions from the plants will be actively monitored by the EPA to ensure that the limit values in place are not exceeded. The EPA has held discussions with the FSAI with a view to putting in place a monitoring strategy to ensure that food produced in the areas surrounding the incinerators does not pose any danger to consumers.

I understand the FSAI is satisfied that Irish foodstuffs will not be adversely affected by the introduction of the two new incineration facilities announced by the EPA, provided these facilities maintain the rigorous controls on emissions which will be part of the EPA licensing controls and provided the monitoring programme on foodstuffs currently under discussion between the FSAI and the EPA is put in place. The FSAI will continue to maintain a surveillance programme for levels of environmental contaminants including dioxins in Irish food, independent of this monitoring programme.

Provided these measures are put in place, the FSAI considers the current low levels of these contaminants in Irish food will continue, and will provide a positive incentive for consumers and importers in other countries to purchase Irish food exports.

See this speech in context