Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to address the environmental aspects of the Private Members' motion. My colleague, the Minister of State in the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy English, will deal with the planning and quarrying related aspects of the motion later.

The Environmental Protection Agency undertakes a range of regulatory tasks relating to the licensing, permitting, consenting or certification of activities that could have an impact on the environment or on human health. The agency is the competent authority for granting and enforcing industrial and waste licences, and it undertakes an annual programme of audits and inspections of agency-licensed facilities. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment is constrained by the provisions of sections 79(3) and 86(5) of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992, as amended, from becoming involved in any way with the licensing of installations under the Act. On the matters raised relating to the licensing of Irish Cement, therefore, it is not appropriate for the Minister to comment or interfere in any way.

There are no plans to amend section 15 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 with respect to the immunity of the agency. My Department is not satisfied that a basis exists to support a proposal for amendment having regard, in particular, to the potential implications for the effective discharge by the agency of its statutory functions and the potential impact of such a precedent on the effective operation of other State bodies that have a similar form of immunity.

Public participation is central to the work undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency in determining licence applications. The agency has a clear process in place to ensure the public is aware of a licence application and can participate in the decision-making process at the various stages.

On the agency's website, each installation has a homepage from where key information can be viewed, such as the licence application, licence details, correspondence regarding the licence application and inspection and other enforcement reports. The European Environmental Bureau, the largest network of environmental citizens' organisations in Europe, examined how effectively European countries are making available to the public information about industrial pollution and identified the agency's website as best practice.

The agency will grant a licence only when it is satisfied the emissions from the installation when operated in accordance with the conditions of the proposed licence will meet all required environmental protection standards, will not endanger human health or harm the environment in the vicinity of the installation or over a wider area. In arriving at a determination on a licence, the EPA ensures there is planning permission in place before it can grant a licence to the activity where an environmental impact assessment is required. Section 97 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act provides the agency with the power to revoke, or suspend the operation of, a licence or revised licence if it appears to the agency that the licensee no longer satisfies certain requirements set out in the Act as regards being a fit and proper person. In arriving at a decision to revoke, the agency will also have regard to the seriousness of the matter. The agency licensing process allows for submissions and objections to be made outside of the courts, including requests for oral hearings.

Regarding enforcement, the agency adopts a risk based approach towards enforcement and considers and uses a range of enforcement tools, including issuing non-compliances to formal enforcement processes such as prosecutions. The agency recently published its enforcement policy which sets out the wide range of enforcement powers, including statutory enforcement powers available to the EPA. This document sets out the policy the EPA applies when enforcing environmental and radiological protection legislation. It aims to promote a shared understanding of the principles and criteria underpinning enforcement decisions.

Since 2017, the EPA launched a new enforcement initiative to drive further environmental compliance at industrial and waste facilities. Licensed facilities with the poorest compliance status are identified on a national priority list for enforcement using a new system developed by the agency. Points are allocated to each site based on compliance data such as complaints, incidents and non-compliances over the previous six months. Sites which exceed a certain threshold become a national priority site and are targeted by the agency for further enforcement action.

A review of the environment fund has been completed by my Department. Following this review, a three-phased series of environmental levies over the period 2020-25 is proposed, including a waste recovery levy. The primary aim of the levies is to encourage positive environmental behavioural change and climate action. It is intended that any resources generated will be ring-fenced to support additional environmental initiatives, infrastructure and actions that drive further positive change.

I will now address the issues raised in the Private Members' motion relating to waste prevention, plastics and the circular economy. Section 21A of the Waste Management Act gives legal effect to the waste hierarchy in this country. This means that waste legislation and policy must prioritise the treatment of waste in the following order: prevention; prepare for reuse; recycle; recovery, including energy recovery; and, finally, disposal, which in practice means landfilling. These priorities are reflected in our key strategic documents, namely, our national waste policy, A Resource Opportunity, the national waste prevention programme and the regional waste management plans. However, the Government also recognises the urgent need to transform our approach to waste in line with modern, circular economy principles. This will involve a mindset change from accepting waste as a fact of life to rejecting wastefulness in every shape and form. The climate action plan has committed Government to delivering a new national policy that will lead the transformation from waste management to circular economy practice. Building on the European Commission's circular economy action plan and the associated legislation, my Department has initiated this process.

Following a targeted stakeholder conference that took place in September, my Department will launch a public consultation on a new waste policy before the end of this year. The general public and all stakeholders will have an opportunity to shape and influence our future policy direction in this area. Given the new higher legal targets we need to meet for recycling, it will be important to have comprehensive buy-in for the measures we need to take.

We should also note that the incoming European Commission intends to introduce a more ambitious circular economy action plan in the coming weeks. At a minimum, this is likely to further extend circular economy principles into the areas of construction waste and textiles. By weight, construction waste accounts for half of the 15 million tonnes of waste generated in this country every year. I have been already working with my officials and other partners to tackle this problem. Our construction waste resource group provides a valuable platform to discuss and monitor construction waste, including the capacity of the sector to manage its waste.

On plastics, the Government has committed to leading the way in reducing single use plastics. To date, we have agreed that Departments and bodies will no longer purchase single use plastic cups, cutlery and straws; strongly supported new EU legislation which includes a ban on plastic straws and other discretionary single use plastic items; committed to a 90% plastic bottle collection target and a 55% plastic packaging recycling target; commenced a clean oceans initiative to combat marine litter; and introduced a new law to ban microbeads.

A member raised the issue of tyres. I want to put on the record that 97% of car tyres were recycled here in 2018. That is as a result of innovation and rules brought in by the Government.

I welcome the opportunity to set out the work which is being done to deal with the environmental issues raised in this motion.

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