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[Press Release: May 24th, 2005] Green Party calls for illegal dumping in Wicklow to be investigated by the Mahon TribunalFollowing yesterday's public demonstration in Blessington where local residents heckled Environment Minister Dick Roche over the illegal dump on Roadstone's land next to the town, Green Party TD and spokesperson on the Environment, Deputy Ciaran Cuffe, has called for all cases of illegal dumping in County Wicklow to be referred to the Mahon Tribunal for investigation.Deputy Cuffe has expressed serious concern at Wicklow County Council's recent disclosure that its Section 55 Notice issued to Cement Roadstone will have the effect of exempting the company from the necessity of having to apply for planning permission to develop a purpose-built landfill on its site at Blessington. "It was never envisaged that the Waste Management Act 1996 would be used as a vehicle to exempt the sites of illegal dumps from the planning regulations" says Deputy Cuffe. "If this is happening, it amounts to an abuse of the Act. I am calling for this loophole in the waste legislation to be closed immediately by the Minister for the Environment, or we may see other illegal dumps around the country being legalised as part of a general remediation process without having to go through the planning process. This will mean that illegal dumpers will be deciding on the location of future landfills and local communities will be deprived of any opportunity to object through the planning process". Green Party councillor on Wicklow County Council, Deirdre de Burca, believes that the Cement Roadstone company is being allowed to operate "above the law" in County Wicklow. She points to the decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions in November 2004 not to prosecute Roadstone in relation to the five illegal dumps found on its land at Blessington. "In his decision the DPP ruled that only those who 'knowingly ' allow illegal waste dumped on their land can be eligible for prosecution for these activities. I cannot understand how the DPP made that decision as it goes against the European Court of Justice's ruling in the Texaco-Duvalle case in September 2004 that companies are legally liable for such activities". "Effectively Roadstone has avoided being legally prosecuted for the systematic and large-scale illegal dumping that occurred on its lands over the years" says de Burca. "It has also been facilitated by Wicklow County Council to develop a legal landfill on its lands without having to go through the planning process. The Green Party believes that serious questions need to be asked about the manner in which this , and other cases of illegal dumping in County Wicklow, have been handled. While this company has made substantial donations to most of the major political parties in this country including Fianna Fail, this should not mean that it can operate outside of the laws of this country". The Green Party public representatives are also very critical of the recent waste regulations on illegal dumping introduced by Environment Minister Dick Roche. They argue that the new regulations which only have effect in relation to illegal dumps discovered since June 2002 will not cover most of the sizeable illegal dumps in County Wicklow, most of which were discovered before that date. "Minister Roche must be aware of the fact that he is doing a serious disservice to his constituents by not back-dating the regulations to at least 2001 when the major illegal dumps in Wicklow were discovered" says de Burca.
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