Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If the corporate body that is Donegal County Council has the information, it is a matter for it to pass it to its board of directors, that is, the members of Donegal County Council. As I said in my statement, if the matter is before the courts, it is inappropriate to comment. While trialling and trenching is happening and analysis is being carried out, there may or may not be a requirement to remove the landfill product - I do not know. If something illegal has occurred, there may or may not be a prosecution. What none of us wants to do is put at risk a prosecution if illegal activities are occurring or have occurred to date. This would be an error of this Chamber or any other chamber and is something we just cannot do. As I said, the matter was dealt with in 2011. The second report will be concluded by the end of this year, at which stage we should be able to see what necessary works are required. There may be a requirement for this product to be removed; there may not be. If the product is not damaging to the environment, that is a decision to be made by people who are better qualified in this area than I am. I trust the people doing the analysis to try to bring the matter to a conclusion.