Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for the Environment; Heritage and Local Government his plans to examine the serious health risks associated with large scale dumping at a location (details supplied) in County Dublin ; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the matter has already been raised with the Environmental Protection Agency and Fingal County Council and that they have not dealt with the matter adequately; and if he is further aware that there are 200 persons living in these conditions without sanitation facilities [6914/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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First, I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his appointment and thank the Members opposite for their good wishes to me and the hardworking Ministers of State beside me, especially the Minister of State, Deputy Penrose.

Enforcement actions against illegal waste activity are a matter for the local authorities and the office of environmental enforcement, OEE, within the Environmental Protection Agency. I am satisfied that appropriate powers and resources are available to these enforcement authorities to investigate and to follow up the issue of illegal dumping in the given location with appropriate enforcement action.

In terms of the accommodation issues raised, from inquiries made to the relevant local authorities, I understand that persons living in the area in question are largely members of the Traveller community. In accordance with the provisions of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes, designed to meet the accommodation needs of Travellers, rests with individual housing authorities.

My Department's role is to ensure there is an adequate legislative and financial system in place to assist the authorities in providing the accommodation.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government recently issued approval in principle to Fingal County Council for the development of a Traveller group housing scheme, which is intended to provide accommodation for some of the families living in the area in question. The Department is also providing capital funding for the refurbishment of an existing halting site in the area. I also understand that sanitation facilities have been provided at authorised local authority sites, but that there are a number of illegal occupants in the area who may not have access to such facilities.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his new position and thank the Minister and Ministers of State. The area in question has been a bone of contention for many years. The issue has an awful history. This was the old Dunsink Lane, which linked up to Castleknock. It is in the Castleknock area, but many refer to it as being in Finglas. As I outlined, approximately 200 people live there in the most appalling conditions. What is literally a new landfill on the road is being dumped on and constantly built up. Over the years, the road was blocked off by a barrier against my wishes, but the politicians who represented the area went along with it. I warned them it would cause problems. It is now a no-go area where dumping is constant.

I have gone to Europe, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and Fingal County Council regarding the issue. The Minister has supplied a standard answer, but I am not satisfied with the response from the council or the EPA. We need to tackle the problem. The area is beside the old Dunsink dump, which has been decommissioned in the past seven years. It is experiencing serious anti-social problems. To get everything right, we need to work out a plan to reopen the road as a main artery, thereby alleviating traffic problems and improving people's quality of life. The number of rats and the amount of water flowing up and down the road are horrendous. Even the emergency services cannot travel the road. When a child was killed there in a fire, the emergency services struggled to get up and down the road. I need more pressure put on Fingal County Council, the authority that deals with this area, and I hope the Minister's good office will do that.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I would be happy to assist the Deputy with this serious problem, which I have been aware of outside my current position. More could be done by Fingal County Council and the EPA, as they have the legislative provision and back-up from the Department required to achieve success. Recently, the council took a court case in which it was successful for a change.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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One case.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Yes. A CCTV system has been put into operation. My policy is clear, in that illegal dumping should be dealt with by the relevant regulatory authorities in as strong a manner as possible. Activity that damages our environment physically or visually is not acceptable. I understand the frustration of Deputy Ellis and the area's law-abiding residents concerning this illegal activity and will ask the Department to contact Fingal County Council to see what can be done to improve the situation and to deal with the issue once and for all.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister. We need urgent action. It is frustrating that the same person has been dumping for years. A serious outbreak could occur, one that would affect the entire area's population. I hope the Minister will follow through on this.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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As of June 2010, Fingal County Council had carried out more than 1,000 hours of surveillance by the regional enforcement unit-----

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I know.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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-----and covert CCTV surveillance. There has been all sorts of interagency involvement. Deputy Ellis knows all about it and his expertise in that regard would be helpful. All of the agencies have come together to ensure compliance effectively. I assure Deputy Ellis that I will contact the local authority and the relevant agencies to determine how to resolve these issues once and for all.