Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this very serious issue which has most profound consequences for my region. I refer to proposals from Irish Cement Limited to seek planning permission at its plant in Mungret, County Limerick, to switch from burning fossil fuels to burning used tyres and other combustible materials, including domestic waste. The plant in Mungret is located in the centre of a population of roughly 20,000 people on the westerns suburbs of Limerick. It is the fastest-growing suburb of Limerick, with planning applications for thousands more houses in the area. Of course, the impact will not be just on people in the immediate area, but will be felt citywide and in the city's surrounds.

The people immediately affected by this proposal have expressed major concerns. We have had numerous meetings and a huge march is planned for Saturday. More than 2,000 letters of objection have gone to the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, already. The people are worried about the potential for this changed situation to release cancer-causing dioxins into the atmosphere. The people's concern is exacerbated by the appalling track record of this company at the Mungret plant with two major blowouts in 2006 and 2013. It is further exacerbated by the fact that it is crystal clear that there are insufficient regulatory safeguards in the plan the company has submitted to Limerick and County Council.

In addition the failure of the EPA to gather any baseline data on air quality is mind-boggling and incomprehensible. Has the Department, the HSE, the EPA or any other agency undertaken a public-health risk assessment of this proposal? Incineration on the scale envisaged brings huge dangers, but there appear to be no plans in place to guard against those dangers. The EPA's State of the Environment Report 2016 stressed the critical importance of air quality to community well-being. What reassurances can the Minister give us now that the burning of 90,000 tonnes of industrial waste, including tyres, solvents and plastics, will not have an adverse effect on air quality to the detriment of the community?

With further plans for a gasification plant in Shanagolden, which is also in County Limerick, the importation of industrial waste into Foynes, which is also in County Limerick, not to mention Platin and Poolbeg, is there an undeclared strategic plan to turn Ireland into a hub for the incineration of waste from around the world?

In the course of the interaction between the various authorities and the protesters - the objectors to the proposal - very serious concerns have been expressed to me about the Environmental Protection Agency. These include concerns over the lack of resources and expertise of the Environmental Protection Agency, concerns over flawed governance and accountability, and fundamental concerns that there is an institutional bias in the Environmental Protection Agency in favour of industrial development to the detriment of monitoring and enforcement. In addition, serious concerns have been expressed at what I can only describe as the token involvement by the HSE despite major unanswered questions about the long-term public-health risk.

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