Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this most important issue and I welcome the Minister to the House to respond.

Over the past few weeks, the communities of north County Dublin have mobilised in an unprecedented manner to voice their resounding opposition to the proposed monster sewage treatment plant planned for the area. Fingal County Council, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, has nominated nine potential sites in the townlands of north County Dublin for the plant. These sites are within a short distance of the heavily populated towns of Lusk, Rush, Swords, Loughshinny, Skerries, Ballyboughal and the Naul. Essentially, every town and village in Fingal is now living with the threat of having a monster sewage treatment plant constructed within its environs. We have had public meetings in Lusk, Rush and Loughshinny. Tonight I will be in Ballyboughal and I will attend meetings in Swords and Skerries next week. These were not poorly attended public meetings. There were hundreds of people in attendance with standing room only and people spilling out into corridors. Last Saturday, so many people turned up to voice their disapproval at the plans at Fingal County Council's open day for the project that the council had to put stewards in place to manage the crowd. Taken together, this demonstrates a collective rejection of this proposal by the people in north Dublin who I represent.

Why are the people so understandably outraged? There are very valid environmental considerations. The proposed monster sewage treatment plant would process up to 1,000 litres of sewage per minute from Dublin and surrounding counties. This is similar to the capacity of the Ringsend plant in Dublin. The negative impact that the Ringsend plant has had on the environment of the surrounding landscape and seascape in Dublin Bay has been well documented. The traffic created by the construction of a monster plant in north Dublin would be intolerable on the rural roads of the region. The traffic caused by the removal of the solid waste sludge from the plant once it is up and running, with some estimates stating it would require 40 trucks per hour, is also of major concern.

We must not forget that north County Dublin is a combination of towns and large rural areas which grow fruit, vegetables and flowers. Fingal is the market garden of Ireland, with 60% of our horticulture produce being grown in the area. To quote one constituent of mine who wished to have her objection read into the public record, "Who would buy food grown near a monster sewerage plant?" This is a valid point Minister and needs to be reflected upon.

North County Dublin has taken more than its fair share of projects which have had negative environmental impacts. Balleally landfill near Lusk and Rush has taken the waste of greater Dublin for almost 40 years. The Nevitt super-dump planned for the same area hangs threateningly over both communities. The Eirgrid east-west interconnector which makes landfall in Rush has and is causing upset for that community. The sub-sea gas interconnector between Loughshinny and Moffat in Scotland has caused untold problems for the people of Loughshinny.

Fingal is lacking in so much, with inadequate water infrastructure and public transport systems and today we heard that metro north has just been deferred. We need infrastructure which has a net positive effect on the region rather than just being the dumping ground for the State's problem projects. I stood with the people of Portrane and Donabate when this idea was earmarked for that area and I stand with all the people of north Dublin who oppose this proposal now. It is a costly plan, it is an environmentally negative plan, it is a flawed plan and most importantly, it is a bad plan.

This Government was elected to bring fresh ideas and impetus to this country. I ask the Minister, with his responsibility for the environment, to revisit this proposal with a view to thoroughly examining alternative approaches, including the possibility of smaller treatment plants to cope with the waste from smaller clusters of towns. A good example is the Portrane plant which will deal with the sewage needs of Portrane, Donabate, Lusk, Rush and Loughshinny. People will accept that.

Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

This proposal was formulated and promoted under previous Governments and has in essence been inherited by this Administration. Like many things inherited by this Government we must revisit the rationale and costing behind those decisions, especially with major infrastructural projects of this size. It is only prudent to do so. Estimates place the cost of constructing this facility at the high end of €2 billion. Is that the case and is the money available given current strictures on capital funding?

Taking all things into consideration - the environmental impact, the potential for high financial cost to the Exchequer and the many other negative impacts - will the Minister consider looking at alternatives such as smaller treatment plants? The people of north County Dublin have no problem treating their own waste in this fashion. The smaller plants approach would allow for a more modular approach that would spread the costs over a longer period and would have less of an impact on the surrounding environment. There is cross-community and cross-party opposition to this proposal, including from the Labour Party and Fine Gael representatives, and the arguments against it are sound. The alternatives to it, like the one I propose, are also sound.

I appeal to the Minister to at least review the rationale and the assumptions which underpin the proposal to see if they are valid today and put the project on hold until that has been done. They may be out of date because of the recession. The people of north County Dublin demand a change in policy from Fingal County Council and the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government on this matter and I fully support them. I ask for a positive response.