Gormley grilled on incinerator

Irish environment minister John Gormley has promised a financial review of plans for the Poolbeg incinerator after being quizzed by the media.


The plant, which if built, could be the biggest incinerator in Europe, was granted a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency last year, after getting planning permission in 2007.

Mr Gormley, who took questions following the release of the Irish Waste Management Association’s (IWMA) report into the plant, voiced fears it would cost the state nearly 20m euros for 30 years if the plant was not processing enough waste.

The minister, who has also campaigned against the plan, promised an examination of the financial implications of the contract when he responded to IWMA’s report.

The IWMA labelled the site as ‘grossly oversized’ and believes a much smaller site could serve Dublin’s waste needs over the next two decades.

The report recommended a site with the potential to deal with a maximum 300,000 tonnes of waste a year, while the plans for Poolbeg are twice that.

Luke Walsh

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