Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I assume Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science is taking this issue. Is that the case?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Yes.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for choosing this topic. With no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, it is a pity that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government is not here. This arises all too often. This issue was recently brought to my attention and it has raised several unsettling facts. Coincidentally, this week has seen the welcome publication of the Protected Disclosures Bill 2013, a Bill which will protect whistleblowers who courageously speak out about wrongdoing, malpractice or carelessness. Regrettably, the Bill comes too late for the person who has raised the issue, as I will outline presently.

While absolute privilege is available to me and other Members of the Oireachtas, for obvious reasons, I have no wish to engage in any sort of kangaroo court by naming individuals who are not here to defend themselves. Everyone is entitled to their good name and should be able to defend it. However, the person who approached me has lost his job at a health facility merely because he raised concerns that proper and safe procedures were not being followed in respect of the disposal of hazardous medical waste. I emphasise that safety is at the core of this issue, in particular the safety of patients, workers and the public.

As we all know, some hospital waste is hazardous and, unfortunately, there have been times in this country when such waste was not properly disposed of. Sensibly, there are procedures in place which are to be followed to protect the safety of all concerned. For example, any procedure which involves radiation must be registered with the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. Hazardous waste must always be correctly labelled in order that waste disposal staff can take active steps.

In addition, the radioactive hazardous waste must be both correctly labelled and stored in a special lead-lined room. Such waste must also be transported safely, with much material of this type being exported for safe disposal. Furthermore, out of responsibility and duty, relevant persons regularly are appointed to ensure procedures are followed correctly.

I am certain that to any reasonably-minded person, it would make complete sense that a person tasked with investigating shortcomings or a complaint would not be connected in any way to the individual or organisation under investigation. This clearly is for reasons of independence, impartiality and transparency. I regret to note that the case which has been brought to my attention does not have these vital hallmarks. It appears as though the person tasked by the independent State agency with investigating the complaint against the organisation in question is actually an employee of that organisation, which constitutes a clear conflict of interest. Adherence to rules and regulations that are put in place for sensible safety reasons, not pedantic ones, frequently depends on the observance by relevant persons and the assurance that unacceptable, unethical and on sound behaviour will be reported and identified. It takes courage and commitment to speak out in the full knowledge of the consequences and ramifications of one's actions. The individual in question no longer works for the facility. However, remaining staff have the same concerns and are concerned about public health issues in respect of whether practices are continuing. I look forward to the Minister of State's reply and will speak further thereafter.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Kyne for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan. Functions relating to the environmental planning, licensing and control of hazardous waste are the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and local authorities. Under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996, my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, is precluded from exercising any power or control regarding the performance by the agency or a local authority, in particular circumstances, of a statutory function vested in it. Under section 26 of the Waste Management Act 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency is mandated to publish a hazardous waste management plan with regard to the prevention and minimisation of hazardous waste, its recovery, collection and movement, as well as the disposal of such hazardous waste as cannot be prevented or recovered. The National Hazardous Waste Management Plan 2008-2012 is available for download on the agency's website, www.epa.ie.

The supervision and control of movements of hazardous waste within Ireland is the responsibility of the National Transfrontier Shipments Office in Dublin City Council. In accordance with the European Communities hazardous waste regulations of 2011, Dublin City Council is designated, with effect from 1 July 2011, as the sole competent authority responsible for supervising and controlling internal shipments of hazardous waste. In addition, these regulations provided for the replacement of the existing paper-based forms with a waste transfer form available via an online electronic system.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I do not doubt the presence of plenty of paper safeguards, regulations and rules that can be quoted, many of which have been mentioned by the Minister of State. Unfortunately, as it happens in this case, those rules and regulations are not being followed or at least that is the concern. In this case, radioactive material is not being labelled or disposed of correctly and the individual charged with its supervision on behalf of the State agency is an employee of the organisation being investigated. These are serious issues and it also is a public health issue. While I do not believe this practice to be widespread, if it were it would be an extremely serious public health issue. However, it is a matter of concern. If the Minister has no statutory function, I will take up the matter directly with the EPA to ascertain whether a better response can be elicited.

As I noted, the whistleblowers legislation will be an important step for other individuals who might come across similar cases. It will be too late for this individual however, as I do not expect such legislation to be made retrospective. Unfortunately for the individual in question, because he was standing up for his own health and that of others, he is in a position whereby he has lost his job.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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For the information of the Deputy, the EPA is reviewing the national hazardous waste management plan at present for the period from 2013 to 2017, as it is so obliged under section 26 of the Waste Management Act. The Deputy might make a submission to that review process. As I pointed out earlier, functions relating to the environmental planning, licensing and control of hazardous waste are solely the responsibility of the EPA and local authorities. The Minister is actually legally precluded from exercising any power or control with regard to the performance by the agency of a statutory function vested in it. As Deputy Kyne suggested, his only port of call in this instance is the EPA and I suggest he takes up the issue with that agency directly.