Legal action is being prepared urgently by Wicklow County Council against those they believe responsible for illegally dumping potentially hazardous hospital waste at a site in the county.
Political parties have called for an investigation by the Departments of Health and the Environment into the dump at a two-acre site in the Glen of Imaal, which contained used body fluid bags, bloody bandages and swabs, tubing from operations, discarded rubber gloves, and syringes.
Confidential health records and patient account details were also found.
Early indications suggest the waste came from one Dublin hospital, while four other hospitals may be involved through correspondence found at the site. There is no implication of wrongdoing on the part of the hospitals.
The hospital in question said last night it had not yet been officially informed that the waste had come from there.
It said its waste was removed by a private contractor and it had rigorous procedures for disposing of all its waste, and was confident its methods were good. The contractors, named by the hospital, could not be contacted last night.
Garda∅ in Baltinglas, Co Wicklow, were alerted to the site on Monday. The area was cordoned off yesterday afternoon and a Garda was on duty to prevent access to unauthorised personnel. Wicklow County Council staff in protective clothing were continuing to inspect the material. Signs at the approach to the dump read "Caution. Biological waste hazard. No entry."
The investigation came after a tip-off that illegal dumping was taking place on agricultural land near the N81 in west Wicklow.
The dump, about five miles from the village of Donard, is overlooked by Keadeen mountain. It is relatively remote, but Coolmoney Army camp is nearby and there are new houses in the area.
The dump is on private land but the owner of the land is understood not to be the waste contractor.
Neighbours said they knew nothing about the dump until they heard about it on the news yesterday, and they only realised where it was when the warning signs appeared.
Waste from hospitals is understood to be divided into domestic and clinical categories. These types of waste are removed separately, with clinical waste segregated into different sections and placed in special bags. These bags are coded and can therefore be traced to their origin.
Wicklow county secretary, Mr Liam Fitzpatrick, said they wanted "to find first of all how the waste got there and the extent of the risk to the environment and the water course". The council said in a statement that work would begin today to remove the waste.
Labour's spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz McManus, TD, said it was "unacceptable that this has happened" and demanded a full investigation "with a view to securing a successful prosecution against those involved".
Fine Gael's spokesman on health, Mr Gay Mitchell, TD, said this type of waste "by law . . . should be incinerated and the Minister has questions to answer as to how this happened and what steps he plans to take to prevent a reoccurence".
A Green Party councillor in Wicklow, Ms Deirdre de Burca, said illegal dumping is connected to last year's privatisation of waste disposal in the county.