Residents of Blessington, Co Wicklow, have called on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, to intervene in a dispute over the proposed location of a new landfill to deal with a huge illegal dump near the town.
During a protest outside the offices of the Minister at the Custom House in Dublin, representatives said they had huge concerns that the new landfill, on land owned by Roadstone, a subsidiary of Irish multinational company, CRH, would be on top of a domestic water supply source.
Locals also accused Wicklow County Council of "bypassing" the planning process through issuing a direction under the Waste Management Act, directing that the landfill be built. Mr Frank Corcoran, chairman of An Taisce and a resident of Blessington, said Mr Roche had the power to order Wicklow County Council to alter the direction and require Roadstone to apply for planning permission.
"There's a new development of up to 800 houses, some of which are under construction, which will draw their water from an aquifer directly under the proposed landfill," Mr Corcoran said.
A spokesman for Mr Roche rejected Mr Corcoran's claim that the Minister could intervene. "Frank Corcoran is being highly disingenuous. He knows only too well that the Minister cannot legally intervene in a specific case. It would totally prejudice any future legal case."
Roadstone has now applied for a landfill licence from the Environmental Protection Agency to deal with the waste.