Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I raise the issue of a proposed treatment plant in Warrenpoint harbour which is to be used to store and transfer hazardous waste. The proposal is at planning stage in Northern Ireland. I have been contacted by many residents and businesses in the Omeath, Carlingford and Greenore areas who are greatly concerned at the potential impact of this facility. They have also raised concerns at the manner in which the application is being made and the lack of available information.

The plant has applied for a pollution prevention and control, PPC, permit to operate as a hazardous waste transfer station and bulking facility which will be used to bulk and store both hazardous and non-hazardous materials. It is also proposed to include a chemical treatment plant which will be used for the physico-chemical treatment of waste and the storage of treated effluent waste. The treatment plant, which will be over 1,000 sq. m in size, is by no means a small development. It has been indicated that at any one time the treatment plant will store 200 tonnes of carcinogenic waste, one tonne of readily combustible solids and one tonne of spontaneously combustible solids. The treatment plant has also applied to store five tonnes of quarantined waste for periods of five days at a time.

What worries me most about this proposal is that it appears that no proper assessment has been carried out. There was no impact assessment study in regard to the effects a toxic waste spillage or emission would have on the well being of the residents of the Carlingford Lough area. The company behind the proposal indicated that it is very probable that an accidental spillage may occur as a result of the treatment of hazardous waste at the site. It should also be noted that the proposed location of this plant has been vulnerable to flooding in recent years.

I am amazed that this proposed plant has not received any scrutiny from elected representatives in the North. I represent the people of Louth and they are deeply concerned at this proposal. The proposed plant is within 120 m of residential areas in Omeath yet in the impact statement the proposers of the plant state that the nearest residential area is over 400 m away. This is a very serious issue and one into which we in the South must have an input. It is not good enough simply to ignore the residents and businesses on the southern side of the lough. Millions of euro of taxpayers' money has been invested in the area to boost the tourism sector. In recent weeks it was agreed to extend the Carlingford to Omeath greenway as far as Newry. It should be noted that the proposed treatment plant is within 120 m of the greenway.

The Minister should give a commitment to contact the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland to obtain further information on this proposal and voice his concerns. The people of Louth are too familiar with the effects of living so close to hazardous and dangerous plants. One only has to consider the negative effects the Sellafield plant has had on the region over the past 40 years to realise that. This proposed development is only 120 m from one the most naturally beautiful areas in the region and has the potential to destroy the thriving tourism industry that has been built up in the Carlingford and Omeath region.

Assurances are needed from the Northern authorities that they will engage with residents and businesses in the South in regard to this proposal rather than ignore them. I appreciate that as the Northern Assembly is still not up and running the Minister's job will be more difficult in this regard but I urge him to take all steps possible to, at the very least, stall this process until a full consultation has taken place with residents and businesses in the south of Carlingford Lough.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Fitzpatrick. The port to which he refers is in County Down, Northern Ireland, and any proposed waste transfer station to be situated there would, as a consequence, be subject to the regulatory controls of that jurisdiction's national waste legislation. Decisions on planning applications for this proposed development would fall to Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. This proposal has been developed to allow black bin waste collected by the council to be subsequently diverted from landfill for processing and treatment. That will involve the removal of recyclable material from the waste with the remainder being shipped for recovery at waste-to-energy facilities abroad. A facility of this nature may require a waste management licence from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, NIEA. Such a licence would have specific conditions attached to it and the facility would be subject to periodic inspections by NIEA, which can also request the production of records concerning the quantity, nature, origin and destination of any waste being held at the site. The NIEA can request those records at any time.

There are well-established structures in existence that provide a forum to deal with a variety of cross-Border issues, including issues of waste management. The North-South Ministerial Council meets in the environmental sector to make decisions on common policies and approaches in a cross-Border context in areas such as environmental protection, pollution, water quality management and waste management and is an effective forum to address waste management issues of mutual concern. However, as the Deputy knows, that council is not currently constituted. It last met in November of 2016. I look forward to its being re-established in the not too distant future, hopefully within the coming weeks, at which stage it can be used to progress this issue.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response.

I strongly believe that action is now needed from this side of the Border to at the very least halt this application. The people and businesses in north County Louth are simply being ignored in this process. As I have already stated, the application totally ignores those along the south of the lough when they stated that the nearest residential area was over 400 m away, when in fact the nearest residence is in fact only 120 m away on the southern side of the lough. The fact that the proposed site is vulnerable to flooding and has flooded in recent years is also a major concern. The impact on local flora and fauna must also be examined.

At a meeting with residents last night it was pointed out to me that only 30 years ago there was no life in the lough as a result of raw sewage being pumped directly into it, yet today sea bass, salmon and trout are to be seen regularly. We must also take into account the value of people's homes along the lough, which no doubt will be affected by this proposal.

I am deeply concerned with this proposal and share the worries of the residents and businesses in the region. Tourism plays a vital role in the development of the region and this proposal will have a negative effect. I urge the Minister to contact the relevant authorities in the north and on behalf of the residents and businesses of north Louth and voice in the strongest possible terms their concerns in respect of this proposal.

As the Minister knows the Northern Ireland Assembly is not functioning at the moment. I met the chamber of commerce and many people in Northern Ireland and helped them to try and sort things out. The people of north Louth are pleading for help. For 40 years we had Sellafield. This is hazardous and toxic. The Minister has spent the last two and a half hours talking about the climate in the Republic. The Good Friday Agreement exists, and I for one would like to see a united Ireland. It is very important that the Minister and his counterpart would have a serious look at this area. There is a serious knock-on of this situation.

I am seeking commitment from the Minister that he will contact his counterpart in the North or someone in the North and please help the people of north Louth who have been seriously affected for the last 40 years by Sellafield.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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There is a culture of strong and active co-operation on waste management issues between the relevant authorities on both sides of the Border. As I pointed out earlier, there are well established structures in existence that provide a forum to deal with a variety of cross-Border issues, and I have used these previously to highlight problems being faced by Border counties exposed to the consequences of environmental crime. I believe that the North-South Ministerial Council is the most appropriate forum to address the issues of concern from a waste perspective and I am more than happy to raise the matter at the next meeting of the council, should the Deputy have any further concerns.

I give Deputy Fitzpatrick a commitment that I will make contact with my counterpart. The difficulty is that I do not have a counterpart at the moment. I had a good working relationship with my counterparts over the six months that the North-South Ministerial Council was in place, and I look forward to working with them once the Government in Northern Ireland is re-established.