Council to spend €9m more on incinerator

ALMOST €9 million will be spent by Dublin City Council next year in relation to the development of the Poolbeg incinerator, which has been delayed for more than 18 months.

The contract between the council and the developers of the Poolbeg incinerator has been extended until February by agreement with both parties, the council has said.

The council is to spend €8.9 million next year, in addition to €34 million already spent on the 600,000 tonne facility, even though its future remains under review. The council also has a future liability of €23 million to pay in relation to the project.

The contract between the council and the plant’s developers, US waste firm Covanta, has been under review since September 2010, following the failure of the council to meet all its conditions.

The review was to be completed by May 2nd last, but the council in April said it would wait until after Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan had made his decision in relation to levies on incineration.

In July Mr Hogan dropped the levies on incineration proposed by his predecessor John Gormley which would have made the incinerator unviable. However, the council decided it would not make a decision on the future of the plant until November last, but hoped to resume construction before the end of the year.

Last October assistant city manager Séamus Lyons said the November date would not be met despite the council “continually exhorting” the developers to proceed with the project.

A new review date of February 29th next has now been set. However, in a reply to a question asked by Fine Gael councillor Paddy McCartan, Mr Lyons last week said that if both parties agreed, extension letters could continue to be “signed indefinitely”. It was not anticipated that this would be the case, he said.

Mr Lyons also outlined the money spent by the council on the project. Some €34.25 million had been spent to date by the council on land acquisition, as well as on the planning process and consultants’ fees. Of this €6.3 million had been spent since the suspension of construction in May 2010.

A further €8.9 million will be spent next year on land acquisition costs and on consultants’ fees.

Continuing to spend money on a project which may never materialise was a senseless waste of money, Mr McCartan said. “This whole debacle is fast assuming the status of a folly of epic proportions. Over the last 12 years it has cost €250,000 every month.”

Mr McCartan said he no longer had confidence in the council management in its dealings with the private developments. “The exposure of the taxpayer will continue indefinitely if the contract remains so open-ended. This has the potential to drag on and on,” he said.