Ahern criticised over association with illegal dumper

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has been attacked over his association with a businessman who has pleaded guilty to illegal dumping.

On Monday, Mr Ahern attended the opening of a new hotel and wedding venue in Sneem, Co Kerry. The venture is being financed by Louis Moriarty, who is a native of Sneem but lives in Mr Ahern's constituency in Drumcondra.

Mr Moriarty used to own a waste disposal company that has been the subject of a number of investigations into illegal dumping in the past few years. He is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to charges arising out of an investigation into the largest illegal dump ever uncovered in the State at Whitestown, Co Wicklow.

The Labour Party's deputy leader, Liz McManus, claimed today the fact Mr Ahern allowed himself to be photographed with Mr Moriarty shows a "very serious error of judgment.

"Mr Ahern either decided not to bother carrying out even the most cursory checks into Mr Moriarty's background or else he decided to ignore the fact that the developer was awaiting sentencing on such serious charges," she said. "This totally undermines the claims by the Government that the serious about tackling illegal dumping."

Ms McManus called on Fianna Fáil to declare whether Mr Moriarty or any of his companies have donated money to the party.

The Green Party leader Trevor Sergent described the affair as "highly embarrassing" for the Taoiseach.

A spokesman for Mr Ahern said yesterday the visit was not in the Taoiseach's official diary as it was strictly informal and resulted from a private invitation.

He said Mr Ahern did not know Mr Moriarty and had no comment to make on the fact Mr Moriarty has pleaded guilty to illegal dumping. "The Taoiseach has absolutely nothing to say about any case pending that Mr Moriarty may be involved in. And he believes it would be very unhelpful for anybody else to do so."

In November 2001, Mr Moriarty's firm Swalcliffe Ltd, trading as Dublin Waste, was fined a total of £7,500 and ordered to pay £8,000 in costs for illegal dumping and other contraventions of the Waste Management Act.

Dublin District Court was told there were discrepancies of up to 8,500 tonnes per month between the amount of waste that Dublin Waste said it was disposing of and the amount received from it by two dumps approved by the Environmental Protection Authority. The court heard some of the waste went to an unlicensed site in Co Meath, while the rest was unaccounted for.

Mr Moriarty and his wife Eileen, both directors of Swalcliffe Ltd, were fined £1,500 between them. The company was fined a further £6,000 and ordered to pay £8,000 in costs.

Swalcliffe Ltd also had a High Court order secured against it by Wicklow County Council in 2004 over the failure of the company to comply with a previous order to clear up a major illegal dump in west Wicklow.

Some 8,000 tonnes of rubbish, including waste from three Dublin hospitals collected by Dublin Waste, was found on a two-acre site at Coolnamadra near the Glen of Imaal in 2001. The hazardous material included blood-stained bandages, used incontinence pads, bodily fluids, scalpels, needles, laboratory waste and gas cylinders.

Mr Moriarty said he had no knowledge of the illegal activity, which he claimed was carried out by a subcontractor.

Last month, a Co Meath man, a subcontractor who worked for Dublin Waste, was jailed for six months at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for illegal dumping. Another man was fined €150,000 for allowing his land at Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, to be used as an illegal dump.

The investigation was prompted by a Wicklow County Council complaint. The council said it could cost up to €10 million to make the dump safe.