Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House.Today I am raising the issue of the licensing of heavy industries, in particular the licence application made to the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, by Irish Cement with regard to its facility in Mungret in my own constituency of Limerick City. The context is that Mungret is now a highly built-up residential area, unlike other locations in the country. A public meeting was held by the group Limerick Against Pollution in the South Court Hotel last Friday night at 7.30 p.m. More than 300 people across all age groups attended. It was a very representative group. These are decent, ordinary people who are worried about the implications of the licence which Irish Cement is seeking in order to convert the Mungret plant from running on fossil fuels to alternative fuels. This involves, in layman's terms, the burning of tyres. It will effectively use an existing kiln, which is over 35 years old and which is currently being fired by fossil fuels, to burn tyres.

I want to raise a couple of points. Irish Cement is looking at burning 90,000 tonnes per annum. There is a move away from fossil fuels as a result of carbon credits and so on, however the question is whether what is being proposed is safer or less safe. There has been very little engagement from Irish Cement. I personally made contact with it to encourage it to attend the public meeting last Friday night. It declined. There has been some engagement, but not enough. From speaking to residents in the area and, more recently, calling to their homes and meeting them, I know that there is a distinct lack of trust among the public in the area as regards what is happening with the Irish Cement plant. There is an issue with what residents regard as blow-outs, although Irish Cement say they are not blow-outs. However, from speaking to people, they are. There are concerns about the way in which the plant is designed. People's cars are regularly covered with lime and so forth. There is a worry. There are three new schools in the area. There are many young families and an awful lot of houses which have been built very near the Irish Cement plant.

How does the Minister intend to regulate these heavy industries in light of environmental concerns? In respect of the Irish Cement plant more particularly, the council has granted planning permission for the physical storage structure. However, the operation of the alternative fuels incinerator is licensed by the EPA. The application is currently before the EPA. It is due to issue a draft response on 16 May. That may change. I encourage people in the area to make submissions. The question I really want answered is how is it intended to regulate in this area?

I brought this issue up previously and the Minister agreed to put extra air monitoring locations into operation, one of which was to be in Mungret. There is a need for many more. The outputs from that particular location for the last three months of last year were analysed and the analysis showed spikes. People need assurance that this area will be properly regulated. There is a strong need for the EPA to license activities before applications for physical structures are made to the council. The council should not be able to grant permission if it has any environmental concerns. The Minister of State might deal with the general point but also comment on the specific licence application Irish Cement has before the EPA. People in the area have grave concerns that what is being proposed will be more harmful to health. This is about public health and ensuring that Government policy promotes public health. We must avoid a situation in which seeking to reduce the use of fossil fuels results in unintended consequences from the burning of alternative fuels.