Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 96: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his future plans to build municipal waste incinerators throughout the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13466/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Waste Management Acts it is the statutory responsibility of local authorities, generally acting in regional groupings, to prepare waste management plans which include the identification of necessary waste management facilities. Where such facilities are not being provided by the private sector a local authority, subject to public policy in regard to procurement, may seek to provide such a facility by way of a public private partnership.

Incineration with energy recovery forms an important part of a modern, integrated and sustainable approach to waste management consistent with the internationally accepted waste hierarchy. Its role is fully recognised within the EU environmental framework which moreover regulates waste incineration in accordance with strict environmental standards. As such waste to energy plants would at a minimum be subject to the very stringent emission limits provided for in the EU Incineration Directive and be required to undergo statutorily independent physical planning and environmental licensing processes which can rightly be regarded as among the most rigorous and transparent in Europe.