Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan. I thank Senator John Whelan for raising this issue. Under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government is precluded from exercising any power or control over the performance by the Environmental Protection Agency or, in particular circumstances, a local authority of a statutory function vested in them, including enforcement functions. Issues concerning the enforcement of waste management legislation are a matter for the appropriate regulatory authority and, therefore, should be pursued with the Environmental Protection Agency or the relevant local authority, as appropriate.

The treatment and management of waste material is subject to a registration and permit system by local authorities or licensing by the Environmental Protection Agency, as appropriate. The particular facility is licensed by the EPA, as the Senator has said. The primary purpose of the licensing, permit and registration scheme is to facilitate appropriate controls on waste facilities and activities to ensure good and consistent waste management practice and the implementation of high standards of environmental protection.

The role of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is to provide a comprehensive legislative and waste policy framework through which the enforcement authorities operate. The Government's waste policy, A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, published in July 2012 sets out the actions through which Ireland will make the further progress necessary to become a recycling society with a clear focus on resource efficiencies, the virtual elimination of land-filling and a rigorous enforcement regime.

The Minister and the Department are working to implement in full the objectives set out in the policy. In this regard, the policy document contains a commitment to complete a review of the respective regulatory and enforcement roles of the Environmental Protection Agency through its office of environmental enforcement and local authorities. In early 2013, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government established a group to carry out the review through examining current enforcement structures, identifying the existing strengths and weaknesses and making recommendations for the future. The group is comprised of representatives from local authorities, the regional waste management offices, the Environmental Protection Agency, the national transfrontier shipment office, the national waste collection permit office and An Garda Síochána. The group has made recommendations and these are currently being considered by the County and City Managers Association and the Department.

Further to the obvious concerns of the Senator I believe it is always in the best interests not only of the agency but the people it serves that when a complaint like this comes to their attention, it does not simply act on it but it is open about its findings.