Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I compliment the Minister of State on his first class contribution which I will file away and use as a source of information on the great progress made in waste management. I refer to two words in the Minister of State's contribution, that is, "consensus" and "planning", which are critical. I draw attention to the proposed incinerator on the Poolbeg Peninsula in Dublin. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Roche, and have tabled a motion at a Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting in the presence of the Taoiseach and the Minister indicating my objections to the Poolbeg incinerator because of bad planning and lack of consensus among the local people.

I have engaged with local community groups, including the Combined Residents Association Against Incineration and the Sandymount and Merrion Residents Association. I have advised Dublin City Council that I am opposed to the bizarre planning of the proposed incinerator on Poolbeg. Locating an incinerator on a cul-de-sac, which Poolbeg peninsula is, and in the vicinity of a built-up residential area without the necessary supporting infrastructure defies all logic. The quality of life of the residents of Bath Avenue, Ringsend, Irishtown, South Lotts Road, Sandymount and Merrion will be seriously undermined if the incinerator goes ahead.

It is proposed to bring 500,000 tonnes of domestic refuse from Fingal, Dublin city, South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council through the roads of Sandymount and Irishtown to this cul-de-sac. Originally when this incinerator was proposed, it was believed that the Dublin eastern by-pass would be built, that a tunnel under Sandymount Strand would connect with the M50 in south Dublin. This road will not go ahead and there are no plans for it in the Government's 2015 road plans. Only money for a feasibility study has been put aside. This road may never be built.

The ideal place for an incinerator is on a ring road around a city as happens in Vienna and on the Continent. Sandymount, Irishtown and Merrion were little villages and the roads in the area are still village roads. Bringing 400 trucks per day through these roads will seriously damage the quality of life of the residents. I travelled on these roads each day for 16 years when I went from Dundrum to the East Wall and I know them inside out. I have seen trucks break the speed limit on the Strand Road. The 400 trucks which would travel on these little roads each day would be heavy and not easily turned or manoeuvred, and they would impede on the quality of life of the residents in this area. Good planning requires consensus and the residents in the area I have named do not want this incinerator built on this peninsula because of the absence of the ring road.