Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the location and expected cost of remediating existing landfills; the funding that will be provided in each case to each local authority; the views expressed by the EPA and EU Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42556/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Following a European Court of Justice judgment in April 2005 which found that Ireland had not properly transposed the 1975 Waste Framework Directive, the European Commission indicated its wish to see progress in relation to landfill sites which had not been subject to the regulatory approach provided for in the Directive in the period to the enactment of the Waste Management Act in 1996. In the context of Ireland's formal response to the judgement, prepared in consultation with the EPA and other relevant bodies, a systematic approach is being applied to dealing with these historic or legacy sites.

It is important to note that there are a number of different categories of landfill including currently operating licensed local authority landfills, local authority landfills that operated for a period as licensed landfills under the licensing regime established by the 1996 Act, but are now closed, and local authority landfills which were never licensed, but which operated during their lifetime within the then national legal arrangements.

In regard to currently operating licensed facilities it is a matter for the local authority concerned to determine a gate fee which has regard to the costs of operating the facility and of meeting the aftercare provisions contained in the relevant EPA waste licence. However, the Government recognises that local authorities will face major challenges in meeting the costs of necessary remediation works in respect of closed facilities for which financial provision was not made during their operation. In 2006 my Department provided an initial €10 million to assist certain local authorities to begin the remediation process in regard to sites which, while closed, had been the subject of a licence and as a consequence have determined aftercare requirements.

In the context of the preparation of the new NDP my Department has proposed additional funding for the period 2007-2013 to permit continued phased remediation of the local authority landfill legacy on the basis of co-funding with the local authorities concerned. As each such site, not previously licensed, will be required to undergo a risk assessment, a statutory requirement under the EPA Act, all funding will be allocated on the basis of these assessments. In September 2006 I approved a draft Code of Practice for the Environmental Risk Assessment of Unregulated Waste Disposal Sites prepared by the EPA, on which the Agency then carried out a public consultation. During 2007 this Code will be used to begin the process of systematically assessing the historic landfills concerned to permit a coherent and uniform approach to addressing remediation requirements and funding.