Dáil debates

Thursday, 15 September 2022

Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage

Waste Management

9:45 pm

Photo of Aodhán Ó RíordáinAodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for facilitating this debate at this late hour. Last Wednesday, I attended a safety forum in Darndale. Safety forums across the northside are meetings that take place to discuss issues of concern in the local area, attended by local city council officials and gardaí. They are an effective way for local communities to raise their concerns with local representatives, city council officials, the Garda etc.

The issue of this illegal commercial dump that has been in the general Darndale area for a number of years has come to a head. It has gone completely out of control. I visited the dump during the week with my colleague, Councillor Alison Gilliland, and was stunned by what I saw. There has always been a commercial dump, which has been an issue raised constantly with the city council, but now, possibly because of Covid but definitely in recent months, it is the number one issue in the area. It is out of control and dangerous. There are huge mounds of commercial waste and of earth. It is being overseen in an illegal fashion as a commercial entity.

I visited it again today and rats were clearly visible running around this illegal commercial dump, which is in close proximity to people's homes. They are citing issues of ill health in the local community and are demanding that the council and other agencies of the State work to remove the dump and utilise the ground for more productive purposes. It could be used for housing, leisure facilities or commercial entities. There are any amount of possibilities for that spot of land, but currently it is a disgusting, unhealthy, illegal mound of commercial waste.

My colleague, Councillor Gilliland, and other local councillors have called for a high-level task force to be set up. In other areas of my constituency such a task force has been successful. It has never been tasked with dealing with this size of a dump but that solution is being put forward as the way forward. On Monday, there will be a meeting of the local area committee on the north-central area of Dublin City Council. I believe the chief executive of the council has an interest in attending or, certainly, in being proactive about moving this material but it will need support from the Department and the Government because the council will not have the resources to do what needs to be done. Is the Department familiar with the problem? Is it liaising with Dublin City Council? If a task force is established and a way forward decided upon, will the Department be in a position to help the council to fund such a move for the benefit of the local community?

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan. Tackling illegal dumping and other waste crime is a priority for the Minister and his Department, which continues to provide substantial support to local authorities dealing with challenging waste enforcement cases.

Illegal dumping is first and foremost a matter of individual responsibility and compliance with the law. In accordance with the provisions of the Waste Management Act 1996, each local authority is responsible for the supervision and enforcement of the relevant provisions of the Act in relation to the holding, recovery and disposal of waste within its functional area. It is necessary to advise the House that under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications is precluded from exercising 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 legislation, individual local authorities are responsible for dealing with cases involving the illegal disposal of waste in their functional areas and it is a matter for them to take the appropriate enforcement and clean-up actions. However, the national waste enforcement steering committee, NWESC, which is co-chaired by the Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has provided assistance to Dublin City Council, DCC, in relation to this site, in bringing together relevant NWESC member agencies such as An Garda Síochána, Revenue and the Department of Social Protection to assist DCC in its efforts.

The operation has resulted in the impounding of vehicles used for alleged unauthorised waste activities and the initiation of prosecutions. There are also investigations under way by DCC, with the assistance of An Garda Síochána, into ongoing breaches of the Waste Management Act 1996. Patrols, together with regular clean-up and maintenance operations by DCC, are continuing.

The ultimate objective is to clean up and secure the site as part of an overall and sustainable solution, which will include the development of the site and surrounding area by DCC. Specialist environmental consultants have been engaged by DCC to undertake environmental assessments to gauge the scale and types of waste involved and the subsequent means and level of clean-up that might be required. The clean-up of this site will be carried out in conjunction with the overall development of the area by DCC. Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications officials will receive further reports from DCC, via the NWESC, as this progresses. In the interim, DCC is actively engaged at a senior level with An Garda Síochána in ongoing efforts to eliminate illegal dumping in this area. Both the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and I are fully aware of the challenges that illegal dumping poses to our regulatory authorities and the impact it has on communities. I will be raising this directly with the Minister.

9:55 pm

Photo of Aodhán Ó RíordáinAodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State and I am encouraged by what she said. It is true that this is fundamentally a responsibility for the local authority but what I get from her answer is that the Department is aware of the issue, that it is engaging with the local authority, DCC, and with An Garda Síochána on the issue. It comes to the stage now where it requires a multi-agency approach. It will require intervention and proactive action by An Garda Síochána to secure the site and it will require action by the local authority to clear the site and to ensure the future of the site is much more amenable. The Minister of State mentioned that in her response, so I am also encouraged by that level of vision within the answer.

What the residents require, however, is to be told in good faith that their representations are going somewhere. What the Minister of State said is quite positive but they need to see action. They need to see moves by DCC to begin to move this material. It will need to see physical boundaries put around the compound and actions being taken. It will need to see a Garda presence and some kind of action plan on what the future vision is for this location. I would make the point that it has been said to me that this would not happen anywhere else and that this would not be allowed to happen anywhere else. There is a sense of a lack of faith in the agencies of the State and a lack of faith that they care enough. We do not want to go back to another one of these forums that is populated by public representatives, city council officials and gardaí to talk to the residents if nothing has been done within that time frame.

While I appreciate the Minister of State's answer, I cannot but implore how important it is to the local community that it sees that the agencies of the State will work to remove something that is illegal, prosecute those who need to be prosecuted and allow this entire area to be used for the benefit of the local community, not for the destruction of that area so close to people's homes.

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the seriousness of this issue and, as I said, DCC is actively engaged at a senior level with An Garda Síochána in the ongoing efforts to eliminate illegal dumping in this area. While enforcement action in this area is a matter for the local authorities, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications encourages a multifaceted approach to tackling the problem, incorporating enforcement, public awareness and education. In that context, the Department provides significant funding to support the activities of the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities and the network of local authority waste enforcement officers. In addition, the Department has developed the anti-dumping initiative to work in partnership with local authorities and community organisations in identifying high-risk or problem areas, developing appropriate enforcement responses and carrying out clean-up operations. I will raise this directly with the Minister and come back to the Deputy on progress on this.