The Department of the Environment has described as "inaccurate" reports that €1 million raised through the 15 cent tax on plastic bags had been spent on plans for an incinerator for Dublin.
About €11 million has been collected by the tax and this has been combined with a levy on landfills to create a fund of €55 million, which the Government is spending on waste infrastructure.
Out of the €55 million, grants were provided to local authorities and others across the State, largely for bring centres, but also for other waste management initiatives including composting, recycling and incineration. The Dublin Waste to Energy project has received just under €1 million. A Department of Environment spokesman said "there is much more in this fund than simply the plastic bag tax - it is inaccurate to suggest that €1 million of the plastic bag tax has gone towards the incinerator.
"You could just as easily say that the plastic bag tax has funded grants to recycling or composting. It is just a contributory part of the fund."
The spokesman also maintained that the Government had signalled from the outset that the money raised for the Environment Fund would be spent on waste management infrastructure "and thermal treatment was a part of that infrastructure". The spokesman said €35 million was available for waste recycling/recovery initiatives in 2003.
The bulk of this expenditure - about €26 million - will go towards new or improved recycling infrastructure, a further € 5 million will be provided to local authorities for rising operational costs of existing recycling facilities, and about € 4 million will be provided to meet local authority planning and procurement costs.
The remaining €20 million goes towards the establishment of a National Waste Prevention Programme; a Market Development Programme for recyclable materials, a Recycling Consultative Forum, and support for community recycling initiatives.
