Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 338: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has held meetings, discussions or briefings in respect of proposals to locate an incinerator on the west side of Dublin at Rathcoole, Baldonnel or any other areas; the date on which such meetings took place; the people who attended such meetings, including the companies or organisations they represented; his views on the location of such a facility on the west side of Dublin in view of the prevailing westerly winds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27916/08]

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 344: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he met with a company (details supplied) or any company or agents on their behalf to discuss a proposal for an incinerator at Rathcoole, County Dublin; when this meeting occurred; the purpose of the meeting; the outcome of same; if his attention has been drawn to the widespread public concern that an incinerator on the west side of Dublin with prevailing westerly winds could have serious pollution consequences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28091/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 338 and 344 together.

Under the Waste Management Acts statutory responsibility for the making of regional waste management plans, which includes determinations in regard to the waste management infrastructure appropriate to each region, rests with the local authority (or local authorities) concerned and my Department has no function in this regard.

The proposed development in question is by a private company and my Department has no function in relation to this facility which it is understood will be the subject of an application to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006. Under the Planning and Development Acts the Minister is specifically precluded from involvement in a matter for which the Board has statutory responsibility.

My Department and I hold regular consultations with stakeholders in the context of the ongoing implementation of Government policy on waste management. Consulting widely, with a range of stakeholders, is designed to ensure that my Department and I have as full as possible an understanding of the issues and concerns of stakeholders and are therefore in a position to address them, where it is possible and appropriate to do so. Such consultations are also useful to assist me and my Department in keeping up to date on alternative technologies to landfill and to traditional incineration. In July 2007 I met with an environmental consultant acting on behalf of the proposers of the project in question. The purpose of this meeting, and of a separate meeting with my Department on 10 December 2007, was to outline a form of thermal treatment of waste which, it is suggested, differs from conventional municipal waste incineration. There was, of course, no question of these discussions comprehending matters proper to the physical planning or environmental licensing processes from which I, and my Department, are precluded from involvement. The proposed project has been subject to a small number of representations by the local communities.

The Programme for Government clearly sets out the approach to waste management that will be reflected in national policy in the years ahead. It is firmly grounded in a continuing commitment to the waste hierarchy with a renewed drive towards the achievement of international best practice in the reduction, re-use and recycling of our waste. This, coupled with an increasing emphasis on technologies for the mechanical and biological treatment of waste, will significantly reduce potential reliance on landfill and incineration.