John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I will sort out the matter on the question referred to by Deputy Hogan.

The programme for Government includes a commitment to a review of waste management planning. The procurement process for such a review is under way. While respecting the statutory position of local authorities under the Waste Management Acts to make and review waste management plans, the review will inform the implementation of other commitments on waste management in the programme, particularly on how best to promote alternative technologies such as mechanical and biological treatment, MBT.

The detailed implementation of waste policy will remain a matter for local authorities, consistent with their waste management plans, and private sector initiatives, regulated by the independent statutory waste licensing and physical planning processes.

I have not instructed the local authorities to revisit their local waste management strategies in the context of their waste management plans as it would be premature to issue such an instruction pending the conclusion of the review.

The review will chart a new way forward. I intend that it be completed and acted upon in months, not years, because time is not on our side. We need to accelerate dramatically the move away from landfill, to examine all technologies that can contribute to this and regulate the sector in a manner which supports optimal environmental performance at minimum cost.

The review will not just be about technology. Its terms of reference are deliberately broad so as to promote a fundamental review of the legal, institutional and financial approach taken to waste management.

If the review were to indicate the need for significant legislative changes, I would bring the necessary proposals to the Government. Inaction is not an option and the approach reflected in the current crop of waste management plans, while facilitating some progress, is simply not going far enough fast enough.

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