Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kyne for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan. Functions relating to the environmental planning, licensing and control of hazardous waste are the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and local authorities. Under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996, my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, is precluded from exercising any power or control regarding the performance by the agency or a local authority, in particular circumstances, of a statutory function vested in it. Under section 26 of the Waste Management Act 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency is mandated to publish a hazardous waste management plan with regard to the prevention and minimisation of hazardous waste, its recovery, collection and movement, as well as the disposal of such hazardous waste as cannot be prevented or recovered. The National Hazardous Waste Management Plan 2008-2012 is available for download on the agency's website, www.epa.ie.

The supervision and control of movements of hazardous waste within Ireland is the responsibility of the National Transfrontier Shipments Office in Dublin City Council. In accordance with the European Communities hazardous waste regulations of 2011, Dublin City Council is designated, with effect from 1 July 2011, as the sole competent authority responsible for supervising and controlling internal shipments of hazardous waste. In addition, these regulations provided for the replacement of the existing paper-based forms with a waste transfer form available via an online electronic system.

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