Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I am grateful to the Minister, Deputy Gormley, for coming to the House this evening to clarify the details of a recent significant move in Government waste disposal policy. I would like the Minister to put in a broader context some statements he has made in recent weeks. I am glad he is in attendance to do so. He stated clearly a number of weeks ago that incineration no longer forms the cornerstone of the Government's waste management policy. He followed that up last week by making clear that the Government has altered its previous policy on regional waste management plans, which had been that eight incinerators were required throughout the country. The Minister cited a study that was conducted by officials in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which indicated that a maximum of 400,000 tonnes of waste would have to be considered for thermal treatment each year. He made it clear that he is considering forms of thermal treatment other than incineration and is aiming to remove the need to consider incineration at all.

When the Minister's second statement was covered in the media, some reporters seemed to suggest that the 400,000 tonnes of waste he mentioned would necessitate two incinerators. They presumed that the two incinerators would be located at particular locations — Carranstown in County Meath and Ringaskiddy in County Cork. I would be grateful if the Minister could confirm not only that he did not talk about incineration as a technology in either of his statements, but also that he did not refer to any locations for incinerators. The proposal to locate an incinerator at Carranstown is something of a grey area following An Bord Pleanála's decision yesterday to allow that plant to have greater capacity. I appreciate that the Minister is not allowed to comment on decisions taken by An Bord Pleanála.

The media's suggestion that a domestic waste incinerator will be located in County Cork as part of this equation is also far off the mark. No planning application for a domestic waste incinerator has been made in the Cork area. If such an application is made, its fate will depend on a number of policy decisions which have yet to be clarified by the Minister. He has expressed his interest in the promotion of more environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of waste disposal treatment, such as mechanical and biological treatment. Thermal forms of treatment that follow mechanical and biological treatment, such as the reduction of refuse to derive fuel, will have to be considered as part of the new order of waste disposal treatment. We are trying to meet the commitment in the programme for Government to seek to reduce the proportion of waste consigned to landfill to just 10% within the lifetime of this Government. Regardless of how we treat our waste subsequently, it will ultimately go into cleanfill as treated waste or be used as some form of energy fuel. This will not have to be done through mass burn, high-stack incineration. I think clarity is needed in these areas if we are to clear up the unnecessary confusion that was created in the media reports I mentioned earlier.

In his original statement a number of weeks ago, the Minister said that incineration is no longer the cornerstone of Government policy. He said he was willing to honour another commitment in the programme for Government by ensuring that the landfill levy would not be changed in any way that would give an unfair competitive advantage to other waste disposal options, particularly incineration. It is clear from such logic that any increase in the landfill levy, which would probably be necessary if we are to reach our 10% target, would have to be accompanied by the imposition of levies on other unsustainable forms of waste disposal, such as incineration. We would have to give favourable treatment to better methods of recycling and the mechanical and biological treatment of waste. I ask the Minister to outline the trend of future Government policy. Can he confirm that his two statements constitute an official policy position of moving away from incineration? Can he confirm that he did not talk about incineration as any type of preferred technology and that, in fact, he said the opposite? Can he confirm that he did not mention any locations for the treatment of the 400,000 tonnes of waste? I refer to the waste for which proper methods of treatment have yet to be identified by his departmental officials.