Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

There is shock, disgust and rage in the communities of the lower harbour in Cork at the decision announced this morning by An Bord Pleanála to give the green light to a 240,000 tonne per year hazardous waste incinerator at Ringaskiddy. I got a text before coming to the Chamber from a resident of Cobh, one of the harbour communities, who told me that the phrase on people's lips was "Only money matters, not lives".

As the Minister knows, this was not the first or second application, but the third, by Indaver for planning permission for this monstrosity. Over the past 17 years, the two previous applications were rejected. An oral hearing on the third application was held in 2016. The inspector, Mr. Derek Daly, recommended against granting planning permission and said that the environmental impact statement lacked robustness. He raised questions re health implications, the dioxin intake and the implications for air quality. He indicated his belief that planning permission would not have been compatible with tourism initiatives in the Cork lower harbour or with the National Maritime College of Ireland, which is situated there. He also raised questions as to the safety of air navigation at Haulbowline naval base should this project proceed.

A decision was expected in 2016, but it never came. A decision was expected last year, but it never came. A decision was deferred not once, twice or three times, but nine times. In fact, one report I heard today put that number at ten. The decision was delayed time and again for two years. The question that people are rightly asking is what the hell was going on behind the scenes while those deferrals were taking place. Will the Minister comment on that point? Is he aware of any major planning permission decision that has been deferred as often and for as long as this one? Can he offer an explanation as to why that might be the case?

Indaver is involved in for-profit waste disposal, with profitability predicated on a steady flow of waste to a facility. Indaver will have its facility for 30 years, so it must maximise the feed of waste to it. How does one square 240,000 tonnes of municipal waste and 24,000 tonnes of hazardous waste per year with a policy of reduce, reuse and recycle? The two point in opposite directions. If recycling facilities are successful, it undermines the incinerator. If recycling initiatives fail, it adds to the success of the incinerator. Does the Minister agree that this undermines recycling initiatives?

I wish to make a number of points about the campaign to stop this monstrosity, but I will save them for my supplementary contribution and await the Minister's reply to my questions.

See this speech in context