James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The issue I raise today concerns the Drehid landfill facility in north-west Kildare. The landfill is well established, has been in operation for some years and, dare I say it, an uneasy peace existed between the facility and locals until recently. However, there have been difficulties recently which have exacerbated the relationship, strained matters and caused considerable concern, unrest and upset to the surrounding area for some miles around. The landfill has seen an escalation of activity since earlier this year. I understand that the landfill was approaching end of life at the end of last year but a decision was taken in February or certainly spring of this year to ramp up the intake of the landfill from 120,000 tonnes per annum to 360,000 tonnes per annum. Obviously, a trebling of the volume of waste going into the landfill places a considerable burden on neighbouring communities and the wider county as people traverse multiple local and backroad routes to access it. This trebling occurred almost overnight. I understand a formula was used, which I might come back to in a moment, and that a number of local authorities simultaneously invoked emergency powers to enable this, technically, to happen. However, it has meant that all of a sudden the volume of trucks pounding down the local roads surrounding the landfill has hugely increased.

The landfill is in a relatively rural and remote area and the only approach routes are across local, rural roads. As a local representative before I came into this House, I was very familiar with complaints on the standard of those roads as they were not to mind after 360,000 tonnes of waste will have pounded down them across every hour of the day, every day of the week. There has been no attendant infrastructural improvement to the roads surrounding the landfill since permission was granted to treble the volume of waste. The local authority suggests there are a number of approved haul routes but in my opinion and that of the residents for a radius of many miles around the landfill, these roads are totally inadequate for the volume of traffic now traversing them. It also seems grossly unfair. Everybody understands that waste has to go somewhere and we even understand that, at times, it has to go to Kildare, but I understand anecdotally that the Drehid landfill is now taking waste from almost the entire greater Dublin area. I understand that the delays with the Poolbeg incinerator have led to a concentration of waste at Drehid landfill. I understand there is a landfill in Galway but obviously Drehid is closer to Dublin. It seems completely disproportionate, unfair and overly burdensome on the residents of Kildare to have to suffer and become the dustbin of Dublin.

What actions are in place to sustain and manage this? What kind of infrastructural improvements will accompany the trebling of capacity? Is the Minister aware of this development and is it in fact the case that waste from the entire greater Dublin area and surrounds is being deposited in the Drehid landfill in north-west Kildare? What infrastructure needs to be put in place and how soon can we get it? It is completely disproportionate and unfair to expect a rural location in north-west Kildare to absorb the volume of trucks, waste, odours, traffic and heavy goods vehicles from miles around pounding down its roads on a daily basis and in the absence of any public consultation. I understand that an application is due to be made to the EPA to, as it has been put, regularise the situation, but this has come about at the flick of a switch when there was an emergency invocation in February or March. It is unsustainable and unfair on the residents of Kildare and I ask the Minister to address it as a matter of urgency.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Lawless for raising this issue with me. Waste management planning is the responsibility of local authorities under Part II of the Waste Management Act 1996. In this regard, waste management plans for the Connacht-Ulster, eastern midlands and southern regions were made in May 2015. In brief, the plans comprehensively set out clear strategies, policies and actions to address, inter alia, the prevention, generation, collection and management of waste in the State for the period 2015 to 2021. The development and implementation of the plans will give effect to national and EU waste management policies and legislation. I am precluded under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996 from the exercise of any power or control in relation to the performance by a local authority in particular circumstances of a statutory function vested in it under the Act.

Waste capacity developments, including any future potential pinch points and the coming on stream of additional capacity, are kept under constant review by the three regional waste management planning offices in consultation with industry and other waste regulatory bodies, including my Department. In line with Government policy, the management of waste in the State generally is continuing to move away from the disposal of waste at landfill. In 2011, the number of landfills which accepted waste for disposal stood at 21. Currently, there are four landfills actively accepting waste around the country. The coming on stream of the Dublin waste-to-energy plant at Poolbeg next year will be another significant development in terms of how we manage our waste in the State. Regulatory authorities and waste operators will continue to engage to ensure that the sector has the capacity to deal appropriately with the waste we generate.

The waste management facility at Drehid is governed by waste management and all other applicable legislation, including the licence and planning permission attached to the site. The facility in question operates under an industrial-emissions licence granted by the Environmental Protection Agency. The monitoring and enforcement of conditions attaching to the industrial-emissions licence is a matter for the EPA. All documents relating to individual licences, including inspection information, are available to view on the EPA's website at www.epa.ie. Issues pertaining to planning legislation, including matters regarding traffic management, do not fall under my remit as Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

The big issue here is a capacity issue nationally in relation to waste. That is why we are actively engaging on ways to reduce the volumes of waste going into landfill. That is why we are actively trying to encourage people to segregate their waste into brown bins for biorecycling or composting, blue or green bins in relation to recyclables and into the black bins. A significant level of segregation again takes place in relation to black bins before waste goes into landfill. I encourage people to segregate their waste properly, which would reduce the volumes going into landfill. As we are in reuse month, I encourage people to reuse goods. Rather than to use the likes of disposable cups, I ask people to use mugs and reusable cutlery and cups. I say the same in relation to goods which can be reused for another purpose and up-cycled. Instead of disposing of computers, they could be sent for specific recycling whereby they can be used in the developing world.

There are major opportunities to create employment and reduce the volumes of materials going into landfill. That is the long-term sensible solution to address the overall problem we have in regard to landfill.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I respectfully suggest that although I wholeheartedly support opportunities for segregation, recycling and reuse, as I am sure my constituents do, that will not address the 360,000 tonnes of waste hammering down the road at full speed today, tomorrow or over the next year, which is the immediate problem. The Minister has suggested that there are clear strategies, policies and actions to address the issue of waste. In this case they are not working.

I referred to an e-mail I received from An Bord Pleanála earlier this year when I highlighted this issue directly with the agency. It referred to section 56 of the Waste Management Act being invoked to enable the simultaneous invocation by multiple local authorities of emergency powers to enable landfill to ramp up immediately, and that this was to address a potential shortfall in capacity nationally and the fact that there was a backlog and stockpiling of waste at licensed and permitted sites. Something is going wrong.

There would not be a great deal of confidence in the EPA in Kildare, in particular in Kildare North. Multiple complaints were made to the EPA about the landfill at Kerdiffstown over a number of years, culminating in a fire at the site which could be seen from the nearby N7. The High Court issued €10 million in fines, the highest fines ever imposed following a waste management conviction. With respect to the EPA, we do not have much confidence in it to deal with this issue.

There is an immediate issue, as I have said. It appears, and from what the Minister said it is not denied or confirmed, that multiple waste from the greater Dublin area is involved. According to the Minister, there are four landfills in the country and this appears to be the one in closest proximity to Dublin. As I said at the outset, it seems unfair and disproportionate to concentrate waste in one rural location on the perimeter of Dublin. I call on the Minister to take action to examine the infrastructure and planning needs, and address with the EPA and lead authorities the waste management plan because the residents cannot continue with this situation. It is making their lives a nightmare on a daily basis.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Lawless. As I set out previously, I am precluded under statute from intervening in matters concerning waste management planning and industrial emissions licensing, which are functions of local authorities and the EPA, respectively. In addition, matters pertaining to planning legislation, including issues regarding traffic management, do not fall under my remit as Minister for Communication, Climate Action and the Environment.

Notwithstanding that, the regional waste management planning office, working in a co-ordinated and co-operative manner to drive the implementation of waste management plans, will ensure that the health of communities and the environment in the three regions are not compromised. The regional waste management planning officers will continue to engage with industry and other waste regulatory bodies, including my Department, concerning waste capacity developments.

On the issue of waste capacity developments, I understand that earlier this year, following consultation with the three regional waste management planning officers, the industry and other waste regulatory bodies, including my Department, it was evident that some collectors were experiencing difficulties in finding suitable residual waste disposal outlets. On foot of a recommendation by the three regional waste management planning officers, additional disposal capacity was released under section 56 of the Waste Management Act 1996 for a limited period of time to overcome a pinch point experienced in the State in the first half of 2016.

As I previously stated, all documents relating to individual licences, including inspection information, are available to view on the EPA website, www.epa.ie. It is the responsible authority. I have found the EPA to be very thorough. I know there are ongoing issues and I will not and cannot comment on them.