Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure all Deputies that this matter is being treated extremely seriously by my Department. It is the least we could do considering the scale of the incident and how businesses and residences were so badly affected. I assure Deputy Crowe lessons will be learned from the investigations being carried out. I do not have all the answers for the Deputies. I suppose that is to be expected. Otherwise we would not need any investigations. I will ask the EPA, the fire service and the Garda Síochána to initiate their own investigations into the fire, including the cause, as soon as possible once the fire is under control.

The treatment and management of waste is subject to a registration and permitting system in the local authorities and they are licensed by the EPA. This particular facility is licensed by the EPA, so it would have had to have gone through a permitting and registration system. The primary purpose of the permitting and licensing system is to facilitate the type of controls on waste facilities, which Deputies are anxious to see, and on what activities go on in those particular plants to ensure we have consistent and good waste management practice and high standards of environmental protection. As Deputies Stanley, Collins and Conaghan said, there is an opportunity in the context of the review of waste legislation to look at the enforcement regime we have around these particular facilities. I will undertake to look at that in the context of a new waste management policy in Ireland which, as was pointed out earlier, is the subject of consultation. I will ask the Department to ensure all matters raised by the Deputies are part of the investigation. The concerns genuinely raised on behalf of their communities will be reflected in the terms of reference of the investigations which are about to be commenced.

I will also examine the permitting and licensing system we have in regard to our waste management facilities. I share the concerns I hear anecdotally, which Deputy Conaghan mentioned, about people being less than strict in terms of adherence to the appropriate regulations in the waste industry. I hope we will be able to bring them into a new regime as soon as possible and ensure there is confidence in the permitting and licensing system we have and that there is safety for all.

I made financial support available to Belgard station in 2012. It was modest due to the times in which we are. New appliances were provided and improvements were carried out. One hopes, if resources permit, that we will be able to do a bit more in the future.

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