Dublin South East Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Sinn Féin makes a major submission to the review of waste management for Dublin

Published: 9 September, 2004

Sinn Féin today made a major submission to the review of the waste management strategy for Dublin. Attending the event were Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD and Councillor Daithí Doolan. Speaking after the launch Councillor Daithí Doolan called on the four Dublin local authorities, ''to adopt a Zero Waste Strategy for the region".
Councillor Daithí Doolan said:
"Waste management is one of the major challenges facing us all. We can no longer simply brush the problem under the carpet or indeed burn or bury the problem. We must view waste as something that is of value, something that is in fact a resource. Only then, will we as a society stop burning and burying it and start reducing, reusing and recycling. The fact that 80% of waste in the Dublin City Council area, since the adoption of the current waste management plan in December 1998 is still going to landfill shows that little progress has been made. Given that 136,000 householders in the Dublin City council area are now using green bin or bag service it raises questions regarding enforcement and compliance with the bye-laws regarding segregation.
"All that a reliance on incineration will do is perpetuate the throwaway society, do nothing to create a public understanding of waste as a resource and fail to adequately tackle over-packaging and over-consumption. This needs to be fundamentally revised.
"Another matter of huge concern is the removal of key powers from local government. The fact that the responsibility for Dublin's waste management has become an executive power of the city or county manager, is bad for democracy in this city. We are demanding that this power is returned to democratically elected local representatives.
"In this submission Sinn Féin hopes to highlight this. We realise we do not have all the answers nor all the solutions. But we do realise that any waste management strategy must have guiding principals. These principals must be:
  • No incineration.
  • Phase out landfill.
  • An all Ireland Waste Strategy.
  • Consultation with, and inclusion of local communities.
  • Waste Strategies must be a reserve function of local authorities.
"Sinn Féin believes that Dublin as the capital can and must lead the way for the rest of the country in the drive towards a zero waste solution. Sinn Féin aim to continue to work with NGOs, other political parties and our communities to ensure that no incinerators are built in Ireland, land fill becomes a thing of the past and our society becomes a Zero Waste society." ENDS