Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 59: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will confirm the statement he made on a recent television programme (details supplied) that it is intended to proceed with the construction of a municipal waste incinerator at Poolbeg, Dublin; the planning or approval process which is envisaged for this process; the approximate date by which the incinerator is intended to be operational; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4090/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The requirement for a thermal treatment facility was formally identified in Dublin's regional waste management plan which was adopted by the four Dublin local authorities in the late 1990s. In the context of the southern and eastern regional operational programme of the national development plan, my Department has provided Cohesion Fund assistance towards the planning of the Dublin region thermal treatment project. Planning and procurement of the project has been advanced under the co-ordination of Dublin City Council and is now well advanced.

Given the intention to use a public private partnership to deliver the project, my Department will wish to be satisfied that the procurement process has been properly conducted in accordance with the national and EU requirements and that the selected tender provides good value. Beyond this, my Department will have no further involvement in sponsoring or financing the project.

A thermal treatment facility requires environmental impact assessment and processing through the appropriate planning control requirements set out in the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the licensing requirements set out in the Environmental Protection Agency Acts 1992 and 2003. Since the outcome of these independent statutory processes cannot be known in advance, I am not in a position to say when a Dublin region thermal treatment facility will become operational.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his reply which sets out the procedures that will need to be followed to allow an incinerator to be built in Poolbeg. From his answer, can I take it that the Minister is confirming what he recently told Ursula Halligan on her television programme that the incinerator in Poolbeg will proceed?

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As I said to the Deputy, the incinerator project needs to go through a planning process.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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We know all that.

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Obviously if it gets the green light in the planning process, it can proceed, but if it does not, then we will be back to the drawing board. I made this point in my reply to the Deputy. I cannot predict the decisions of various independent boards on this project and I am sure the Deputy is not asking me to put myself in a position where I could be seen to influence those views. However, those decisions will be made independently and they will determine the future of the project in that particular location.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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From the Minister's reply, can I take it that no political decision has been made by the Minister or the Government not to build the incinerator in Poolbeg?

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy can indeed take it. The planning process needs to be followed. I do not intend to intervene in or interfere with what is an independent planning process. I am sure the Deputy is not asking me to interfere with a decision which will be made by the local authorities in this city and county.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Will it be included within the remit of the legislation to fast-track infrastructure projects?

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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That is a very fair question. With regard to whether this project will be covered by the strategic infrastructure Bill, I understand that it is the intention of Dublin City Council, as the co-ordinator in the project, to submit it for processing under existing legislation. To save the Deputy asking a further supplementary question, it would be my wish that it should proceed under existing legislation.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Minister has announced that he will shortly introduce legislation to fast-track infrastructural projects. Has a decision been made, as reported, to exclude the Poolbeg incinerator from the remit of that legislation?

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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That does not arise. The strategic infrastructure Bill is complex legislation which will take some time to enact. I understand it is intended to proceed with this project under existing legislation. I have made it clear that would be my wish.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Based on what the Minister has said, am I to understand that the long planning process and the licensing process which will inevitably surround the proposed incinerator in Poolbeg would be completed before we see the legislation on critical infrastructure?

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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That would not be a fair assumption to make from the response I have given. I have been quite precise as to my wishes. With the help of the House I anticipate that the critical infrastructure Bill will get a relatively speedy passage. We accept that it will take time to process this particular project under existing legislation. However, if the project is in process, it is under the existing process and not under some future process.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I will allow one further very brief question.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Does it then follow that every project, incinerator, road or whatever that is already in a planning process will not be covered by the infrastructure legislation? The newspapers have reported that at the insistence of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Government has decided to take the proposed Poolbeg incinerator out of the scope of proposed infrastructure Bill. I will ask the Minister the straight question. Has that decision been taken? Is it true that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has persuaded the Government to exempt the Poolbeg incinerator from the critical infrastructure legislation?

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has been around for a long time and he must know that he should not believe everything he reads, regardless of how good the newspapers in this country are.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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That is why I am asking.

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There has been no insistence. I have given a number of interviews on this issue and made my view clear. It will take some time for the strategic infrastructure Bill to be passed. This project is in process at the moment. My view is——

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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From what the Minister is saying, it looks like or seems it will be built before the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform leaves office.

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, will hold office for a long time.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Not if we have anything to do with it.

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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He certainly is deserving of such.

Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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He might not be in office by the end of this term the way the Government is going.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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As the House is still within the 30 minutes allowed for Priority Questions and Deputy Gregory is now present, I call Question No. 57.