Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

For the Green Party it has never been a question of a single incinerator. Instead, the issue has been about changing waste policy in the country so that mass burn incineration is not part of the waste hierarchy. The programme for Government makes it abundantly clear the waste hierarchy must be complied with. Only last week in Luxembourg the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, made it very clear that incineration was not a disposal method. There is a debate in Europe on that matter but the Green Party is very clear.

Yesterday evening Deputy Quinn spoke about poor value for money in public private partnerships and I share many of his concerns. However, the Deputy needs to understand the implications for public private partnerships if the financial incentive no longer applies. Once the guaranteed waste stream is no longer guaranteed, an incinerator of 4,000 or 6,000 tonnes is no longer viable.

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