Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 24, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Repeal of sections 15 and 16 of Act of 1992

28. The Minister, not later than 60 days following the commencement of this Act, shall lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the matter of the amendment of the Act of 1992 in Part 1 by the repeal of sections 15 and 16.”.

We have been over this ground in recent days. I remind the House that section 15 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 provides for the immunity of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, while section 16 provides for the indemnification of the director general, directors and other persons of the EPA. In its in-depth review of 2010, the EPA itself stated that doubts had been expressed about the constitutionality of this immunity and whether it is compatible with obligations arising under the European Convention on Human Rights. Indeed, in 2011, the then Minister, Mr. Phil Hogan, also put on record that this immunity should be lifted. The Minister of State made a very nice speech about the EPA and I agree that it has been doing super work and is a wonderful agency. None the less, I am here to speak on behalf of many of the other Senators and their constituents throughout the country.

Let me take the Minister of State to Portlaoise for a moment, the country of Senator John Whelan. The infamous plant there is Enva, a hazardous waste facility processing waste oil from around the world under an integrated pollution control licence. Last year in a memo, Enva detailed releasing benzene, a group 1 carcinogen. The local residents had been making complaints for up to 15 years about the disgusting, unbearable smell coming from the plant and about symptoms including wretched headaches, nausea and weakness caused by the emissions. It is so easy for me to make a speech in the House on their behalf. How would it be for all of us Senators if we lived next door to this plant, if our children had to go to school feeling sick, weak or nauseated, or if our family home was next door to this pollution which is not being regulated or controlled?

In 2011, on the orders of the EPA, independent inspectors from WYG carried out an examination of the odours coming from the plant. They found Enva was in breach of its licence. However, in a response to this report, Enva disputed the findings and no action was subsequently taken. Why is the EPA not using its teeth and acting as a watchdog on which our citizens can rely? What is the point of the EPA if it is not bringing to heel industrial polluters who are profiteering on the back of our citizens' health?

Many Senators have been approached by members of the public from different communities throughout the country. They all have similar sad stories to tell. Their lives are a misery and they are resigned but frightened. In many cases, the EPA has chosen not to believe or address the concerns of these citizens, and labels them as nuisances, moaners or cranks who do not have a clue what they are talking about. Public health should not be compromised. This is a David and Goliath situation in which rural communities with genuine complaints are just not being listened to by the EPA and industrial giants which are causing the pollution.

I ask the Minister of State to picture herself living down by the Shannon Estuary in Askeaton. This unfortunate area should be given the golden globe award for the most polluted valley in Ireland. The ESB's coal-fired station at Moneypoint, County Clare, is one of the 662 most damaging industrial plants across Europe according to a European Environment Agency report. Aughinish Alumina comes in at second place and, at the top of the triangle, we have an incinerator in disguise - a gasification plant planned for the old dump site at Gortadroma. I am sure the Minister has heard this but I am very concerned that no financial bond is in place with Aughinish. I know the plant was in place before the EPA was formed in 1992 but, since then, the EPA has failed to put a financial bond in place. What does that mean to us as a country? Anybody from Cork will know well the large-scale environmental disaster that took place at Haulbowline. A very similar situation could develop in Limerick. When the Ispat steel plant in Cork went into liquidation, shortly afterwards an estimated 500,000 tonnes - an elephant-sized amount - of waste was found buried nearby, equating to one of the worst environmental disasters ever to occur in Ireland. The clean-up operation is ongoing, with costs running up to €40 million so far to make the site environmentally safe. Government attempts to force the clean-up costs onto the liquidator failed in the courts, so this money is being paid by the taxpayer. As a safeguard against environmental disasters such as this, companies are required to furnish evidence of financial provision that is adequate to discharge their financial commitments or liabilities.

I have a picture with me, which I will leave with the Minister of State later. It shows a 200-acre red lake which is 20 metres from the River Shannon. I have been down there and I would recommend to any Members who are holidaying in the west to go and have a look at this monster. This 200-acre red pond, metres from the Shannon and beside the Aughinish Alumina plant, is a toxic by-product of alumina production. It is strongly alkaline to the point of being caustic. In 2010, nine people died when a red mud waste pond at a plant in Hungary burst, and the resulting pollution destroyed the local river and killed all marine life. Since this picture was taken by the Limerick Leader, a second 195-acre pond has started to be filled at that plant. If Aughinish Alumina decided to leave and decommission its plant, a start-up cost of €40 million to €50 million would be just a small estimate of the cost to the State.

This has been going on since the 1980s and it involves many families. The members of one of those families are sitting in the Visitors' Gallery today, although I will not name them. They have moved out and no longer live on their farm, and although they started with a large herd of cattle, they are now down to fewer than 20 cattle. That young girl sitting in the Visitors' Gallery is 14 years of age and she has suffered ill health, breathing problems, nausea, respiratory problems and brain fog. This family is not the only one in the area but they had to move out of their farm, and that is why I am standing here. We need to give them a voice. I ask the Minister of State to please consider my amendment. I just want a report that the EPA itself says needs to happen. I thank the Minister of State for listening.