Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 512: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the location and concentration of landfill waste facilities, current or proposed, in County Kildare is in accordance with his policy on waste management; if his attention has been drawn to the proposed extension at Drehid, County Kildare, and more recent proposals at Usk, County Kildare, which is expected to generate an ongoing self-serving requirement in the future; if this is compliant with the need to reduce and recycle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39578/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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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.

Any such projects would be advanced by private sector service providers or by local authorities and it is a matter for the promoters of such projects to seek and obtain the necessary regulatory approvals i.e. planning permission and a waste licence. In carrying out their functions planning authorities, including An Bord Pleanála, and the EPA in regard to waste licensing, act independently of the Minister.

Government policy is based on an integrated approach, informed by the internationally recognised waste management hierarchy (with a particular focus on prevention and minimisation, reuse and significantly increased levels of recycling and biological treatment), and the preparation of statutory waste management plans, and underpinned by the comprehensive regulatory framework now in place in relation to waste. The Programme for Government contains a commitment to the establishment of new ambitious waste management targets designed to achieve maximum prevention, reuse, recycling and the development of modern waste treatment systems to ensure that we match the best performance in the EU with the objective that only 10% of waste, or less, is consigned to landfill.