Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government when the historic landfills working group was established; who is the chairperson of this group; the membership of same; the number of meetings that have been held; the number of reports and conclusions issue; the action taken and a result of the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48572/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Historical Landfills Working Group was established in September 2011 . The Working Group provides a platform to share experience and to assist local authorities to standardise the certification of old unlicensed legacy municipal landfills, in accordance with the Waste Management (Certification of Historical Unlicensed Waste Disposal and Recovery Activity) Regulations 2008. Given its role, as primarily, an informal and experience sharing vehicle, the Working Group has not prepared formal reports/conclusions.

The Working Group is currently chaired by my Department and membership is open to each of the local authorities. Four meetings have taken place, beginning in September 2011. The meetings have in some cases included site visits, to facilitate training for local authority personnel . The most recent meeting, which took place on 24 October 2012, focussed on a Road Map for certification of sites, and the development of an on-line system to facilitate applications for such certification. I would envisage the Working Group continuing to operate in support of local authorities carrying out the certification process.