The Green Party yesterday called on the Minister for the Environment Dick Roche to intervene and appoint an inspector with powers of a commissioner to investigate illegal dumping in Co Wicklow.
Drinking water for 750,000 people in the greater Dublin area could be contaminated if Wicklow County Council allows quarrying and illegal dumping to continue unchecked, the party claimed.
At a meeting in Blessington, Co Wicklow - chaired by local independent councillor Tommy Cullen and attended by An Taisce chairman Frank Corcoran - Green Party TD John Gormley criticised the decision by the council to grant planning permission to Roadstone Ltd for a 12.58 hectare quarry at Deerpark, Blessington, and for the taking away of part of Glen Ding woods in the area.
He also expressed dismay that the county manager had issued a Section 55 notice requiring the company to develop a lined landfill on its lands near a regionally significant aquifer and reservoir.
These decisions have since been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by several parties, including Dublin City Council.
"It's our view that Wicklow County Council has failed in its statutory duty to protect the water supply of Blessington and the Dublin region," said Mr Gormley.
"This view is borne out by the recent decision of the Environmental Protection Agency to refuse the waste-licence application by Roadstone for a landfill on its lands because of the likely impact on the local aquifer.
"It is also reinforced by the letter by Dublin City Council to An Bord Pleanála objecting to the granting of planning permission to Roadstone for a quarry in the area, because of concerns that it would affect the water quality in Poulaphouca reservoir," he said.
"It is difficult to believe that all this has happened in Minister Roche's back yard . . . it is time he intervened because this is now a matter of national importance."
Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe said that half the people of the Dublin region got their water supply from this reservoir.
"At best we'll need more chemicals to purify the water properly - that is not a good thing. At worst, it will lead to contamination of the water."
Mr Corcoran claimed that the aquifer had already been contaminated by illegal dumping and that the EU had taken Ireland to task over breaches of water directives in Wicklow.
"Things have not changed. Things are just as bad, if not worse, than they've ever been," he added.
Wicklow County Council yesterday submitted a report to An Bord Pleanála outlining its reasons for granting the quarry licence to Roadstone.