Mary Henry (Independent)

Senator Burke spoke very sensibly. The real problem is to try to get people involved in recycling. The Minster is right when he talks about the difference in incineration 20 years ago and today. People are always asking me to appeal on health grounds with a view to preventing incinerators being built but that is becoming impossible with modern incinerators. The real problem is that with incineration it is too easy for people to stop trying to minimise waste and start recycling. It is important that whatever rating we introduce will encourage the minimisation of waste for a start and then recycling because incineration is too easy.

I will not be popular in the Dublin 4 area for saying this but incinerators will have to be built near where the problem is created because we cannot continue to cart waste all over the country. People will have to understand that if they produce huge amounts of waste, it will have to be disposed of near them because otherwise we will have enormous problems in moving it around the country, including traffic problems. The economy of scale involved in removing this waste is important also. The Minister is right about the incinerators being closed down in the European Union due to their inefficiency or the pollution they produce but in respect of the modern facilities being built, we cannot make a case on health grounds and say they are causing terrible trouble.