John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I have set out for Deputies the exact legal position. The Poolbeg project is the subject of an application by Dublin City Council to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission and an oral hearing in that regard has recently concluded. It is also the subject of an application by the council to the EPA for a waste licence and the legislation governing this process has a similar provision. These restrictions on ministerial involvement were put in place by the Oireachtas for good reasons. Many of us are old enough to remember the controversies which surrounded past political involvement in the planning process. An Bord Pleanála and the EPA exist in the independent statutory form they enjoy in order that the public can be assured decisions in respect of physical planning and environmental licensing are made independently of the Government. It is easy to suggest an À la carte approach, according to which interventions that are benign or well meaning are all right but others are not. In the real world of due process such an approach is a nonsense. These bodies are either independent or they are not. While we as individuals may not always agree with decisions made by independent regulators — it would be remarkable if we did — we nonetheless can see that the balance of public interest rests in their independence.

While I cannot comment further on the future of the Poolbeg project, I would like clarify my Department's involvement. I do so to demonstrate the limited nature of that involvement and the considerable legal autonomy which attaches to the existing statutory regional waste planning system. The facility is provided for in the Dublin regional waste management plan——

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