Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Notwithstanding what has been discussing about waste, there is another definition of it. We have more of an issue with what might be classified as waste that has been removed from development sites. This is becoming a serious issue in my area and others. Much of this waste is covered under Article 37 where the developer decides to move from one site to another and makes a self-determination as to what the waste is. There was an incident recently where material was brought from a development in town to the Kerdiffstown site that Deputy Catherine Murphy mentioned. However, there has been a very slow response from the local authorities and the EPA. The EPA always washes its hands of it and gives it back to the local authority.

This arises where there is self-determination by the developer or the waste removal company, mostly of inert material. The EPA dictates that certain inert materials cannot be moved from one area to another that it is not compatible with. That leads to fierce problems for those who operate proper licensed waste facilities. I am talking about inert material, not the material this Bill deals with. Who takes control of it? Local authorities are very slow to remove it but when the EPA is contacted it refers it to the local authority. We need to do something about this quickly because there is a lot of unauthorised dumping because we do not have the facilities to take the subsoil and material like that from construction sites. In certain cases it is not tested and no one knows what kind of contamination there may be in it. I see it being moved to unauthorised sites daily. There is one site adjacent to the Kerdiffstown site and the local authority has had difficulty getting the operator to cease the movement. Will the Minister comment on how to dispose of that inert material, how to licence landfills quickly and monitor it?

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