Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I move:

"That Dáil Éireann,

—recognising the continued record levels of waste generated per head, as highlighted by the recent Forfás report and the low levels of recycling in Ireland;

—condemning the Government's failure to bring forward regulations under the Waste Management Act 1996 to give effect to producer responsibility obligations to promote the placing on the market of reusable, recyclable and biodegradable products;

—acknowledging the civic mindedness of people, who are recycling;

—condemning the practice of local authorities which charge for community level civic recycling facilities;

—condemning the Government's failure to divert waste away from landfill as legally required under EU directives and the Government's plans to seek a derogation from the landfill directive requiring a reduction of biodegradable waste going to landfill by 2009;

—recognising that an independent expert has stated that incineration costs are significantly higher than that estimated by the Government;

—acknowledging that many local authorities have excluded incinerators from their waste management plans;

—recognising specifically that Dublin City Council has excluded incineration from its development plan; and

—recognising that the planning inspector's report on the hazardous waste facility in Ringaskiddy, which gave 14 reasons this development should not proceed, was overruled by An Bord Pleanála on the basis that incineration was "Government policy";

calls on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to ensure:

—that the Canadian Guelph waste management model of separate collection of wet (organic) and dry (inorganic) wastes from all waste outlets including households, be instituted by a given date;

—the provision of proper "civic amenity" infrastructure for both wet and dry waste at disposal depots in all local authorities, open to the public at no charge, and provide that collection services for all domestic recyclables are free of charge;

—the introduction of waste production regulations under section 29(4) and 29(5) of the Waste Management Act 1996, setting down producer responsibility obligations and targets for the composition, design, use and placing on the market of recyclable, reusable and biodegradable packaging and setting down specified limits on the use of virgin material in primary production of packaging;

—the establishment of a waste deposit regulations under section 29(4)(f) of the Waste Management Act 1996, to require producers, distributors or retailers to operate deposit refund schemes;

—the establishment of a waste reuse research and development programme and enterprise supports under section 28(2) of the Waste Management Act 1996, for innovative projects and business start-ups, for the reuse of waste packaging, and in particular for projects for the curing of contaminated food waste containers;

—that legislation is introduced to return powers to local authorities so that the making of a waste management plan is a reserved function by repealing sections 4 and 5 of the Waste Management (Amendment) Act 2001; and

—that the Minister uses his powers under section 24(c) of the Waste Management Act 1996 to require local authorities in Dublin County to vary the replacement waste management plan for the Dublin region made by them on 11 November 2005, by the deletion of paragraph 18.8 to exclude the siting of an incinerator on the Poolbeg peninsula in south County Dublin."

Tá mé ag roinnt mo chuid ama leis an Teachta Gormley agus an Teachta Boyle. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an Teachta Morgan agus na Teachtaí Neamhspleácha ag iarraidh labhairt chomh maith.

I acknowledge the presence of residents of many communities such as Ringsend and Sandymount in the Visitors Gallery. Waste management is a key issue in many areas and it will inform people in making their decision on who to vote for in the next general election. The Green Party has tabled the motion to outline a better way to manage waste and to highlight a blind spot in Government thinking which has made Ireland the dirty old man of Europe. The EU Environment Agency again this month found Ireland to be the worst state in the EU 25 for generating municipal waste, creating 735 kg per capita in 2003. The Government's amendment refers to its record as remarkable progress but people will have to judge that for themselves.

When debating the terrible death toll on our roads, no Minister would dare say that even one death is acceptable, yet the growing mountain of waste foisted on householders has resulted in no useful response from Government. Instead of adopting a strategy to reduce waste, Ireland has a policy of increasing waste. The growing amount of junk mail landing on our doormats every day without Government sanction is an example in this regard. I have witnessed in Canada how a strategy focused on reducing waste year by year to achieve zero waste in due course can work if political will and community empowerment are strong enough. People want to recycle and compost. The green schools programme is better supported by Irish schools than those of any other EU member state.

Under section 29(4) and 29(5) of the Waste Management Act 1996, producers can be required to generate less waste, segregation of materials and diversion from landfill can be mandatory and local communities can be empowered to play their part in a zero waste strategy. Such a strategy would not require incinerators and hiding waste in huge landfills would also not be necessary.

Lives are being ruined in my constituency by the Government's laissez-faire attitude to the growing waste crisis. In the Tooman-Nevitt area of Lusk where the current major dump for Dublin is located at Balleyally, eight more families will be evicted if the Government is permitted to build a new dump and further destroy lives, communities and the wider environment. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has said nobody wants to live near a landfill, yet he is prepared to sentence 13 families to live on the periphery of this new monument to Government failure to tackle the mounting waste crisis. However, a geological fault line has been discovered beneath the proposed 10 million tonne landfill site, which means groundwater from this part of Lusk feeds the Bog of the Ring underground reservoir on which many people in County Dublin depend for drinking water. This is also the Minister's responsibility.

No landfill liner membrane is guaranteed never to leak or to be punctured and, because of this, the EPA recommends that a minimum of 10 metres of clay be present on top of the bedrock to act as a filter for leakage from the dump. The Tooman-Nevitt site has as little as 4.5 metres of soil above bedrock in places and much less than 10 metres in others. Valuable archaeology on the site has also meant that, so far, 3 million tonnes, approximately one third of the dump's proposed capacity, has been forfeited by Fingal County Council. Unsurprisingly, 21 reports on this proposed landfill have been sent to the European Commission so far.

The Green Party will make a logical case to deal with post-consumer materials as a resource rather than as waste to be thrown away. There is no such place as away. The Government has the legislation to minimise the waste problem but it must be instrumental in minimising the crisis. However, as my colleagues, Deputy Gormley, Green Party health spokesperson, and Deputy Boyle, Green Party finance spokesperson, will make clear, there are proven ways to reduce and tackle this avoidable problem and they do not involve a false choice between incineration and landfill. Waste reduction is where the solution lies, and it is for this reason we seek support for our motion.

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