An Bord Pleanála has again postponed its decision on the controversial incinerator at Poolbeg in Dublin. The decision, due to be published today, will now be deferred for at least a week, according to sources at An Bord Pleanála.
The planning board had initially intended to publish its decision on whether to grant permission to Dublin City Council for the municipal incinerator in early August, following a six-week appeals hearing in April and May.
The decision was postponed until today, but has once again been deferred, with a new decision date yet to be decided.
An Bord Pleanála said that the deferral was for purely administrative reasons and it hoped to publish its decision in the early weeks of November.
The board rejected speculation that the delay could relate to recent comments by Minister for the Environment John Gormley on the need for fewer incinerators. The board is obliged to follow Government policy but must remain independent of political influence.
Before taking office, Mr Gormley had campaigned against the incinerator in Poolbeg as Green TD for the area. At the appeals hearing, he said the development of the incinerator would be a "giant leap backwards".
Since becoming Minister Mr Gormley has not commented on the decision, but he has said he did not see a need for more than two municipal waste incinerators in the State.
A group of MEPs who visited the proposed site of the incinerator earlier this year have delivered a report to the European Parliament and the European Commission, recommending that the decision to site the incinerator in Poolbeg be reviewed to ensure it complies with EU directives.
