Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 8, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:

"7.—(1) The practice of incineration or thermal treatment of waste shall no longer be legal within this state.

(2) Sections 4 and 5 of the Waste Management (Amendment) Act 2001 are repealed.

(3) The making of a waste management plan shall be a reserved function of the local authority.".

This is an important issue. Our approach to waste management should be based on the community and on environmental sustainability. I fully acknowledge that Ireland faces a waste management crisis. This is a global problem, it is not unique to this State, but we have an opportunity to make the right decisions for Ireland by supporting the amendment.

When we tackle the waste crisis we must also tackle the causes of the problem. We cannot continue to produce waste, burn it and hope the problem will go away. Building mass burning incinerators similar to that proposed for the Poolbeg peninsula is far from the solution. A closer look at the incinerator will show that incinerators are part of the problem. The incinerator proposed for the Poolbeg peninsula has the capacity to burn more waste than the city of Dublin can produce. The choice for Covanta, the operator, is to import waste or to encourage Government policies that produce waste and, therefore, more rubbish to burn and more profit for the owners. The lack of waste is a huge concern. The volumes of waste being produced by industry and wholesalers will significantly reduce in coming years. Sinn Féin wants to set a target of zero waste and to work towards that.

The history of the contract is little short of a scandal. Dublin city councillors have not been party to decisions and have not seen important documentation. That leaves much to be desired. In another time there would have been a huge outcry and there is no reason that should not happen now.

The EU directives rightly restrict our landfill options. To turn to burning waste is not a solution. We need to adopt a zero waste strategy similar to some of the municipalities in New Zealand. We must drastically reduce the waste we produce by reducing packaging at source. We must reduce and reuse products and reintroduce glass recycling. That the State has no glass recycling facility is a damning indictment of our failed waste management policies. We must also invest in our fledging recycling industry. If the millions used to fund the huge PR operation to promote incineration were used to promote and invest in recycling, the industry would be much stronger today and we have more jobs from the recycling of waste.

We have set a target for Food Harvest 2020. Agriculture was not seen as important during the boom but we now understand its importance, the importance of food exports and the clean image of food from Ireland. Incineration can do real damage to the food chain and will cause damage to the perception of Irish food, which could have huge economic consequences.

The amendment would allow us to pursue a waste management strategy based on reducing, reusing and recycling. This is an opportunity to right the wrongs of failed government policies since 1999 when incineration was the cornerstone of waste management strategy. Communities can be assured that if this amendment fails to receive the required support, Sinn Féin will continue to work with campaigning groups to ensure that this State is incineration-free in future.

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