The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, has pledged to "drive forward in an intensive way, right across the country" to ensure the implementation of regional waste management plans - including incineration.
Denying that solutions were being imposed, he said there would be a new focus on waste prevention, much more recycling, thermal treatment with energy recovery from waste that cannot be recycled and using landfill as a last resort for residual waste.
He was speaking yesterday at the launch of Making Ireland's Development Sustainable, a review of the State's environmental performance published in advance of next month's UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
The Minister said tackling the major problem area of waste was "not just about incineration". In any case, thermal treatment was "not anti-recycling", as the average recycling target was 40-45 per cent in the regional waste plans.
Welcoming their adoption - after last week's orders signed by the Wexford and Waterford county managers - Mr Cullen said this would clear the way for him to announce the provision of grants for a range of new or expanded recycling initiatives.
He stressed that new thermal treatment facilities would be subject to environmental impact assessment, planning controls and licensing by the Environmental Protection Agency.
He also rejected an RTÉ report that ring-fenced revenue from the 15 cent tax on plastic shopping bags and the new €15 per tonne landfill levy would be diverted to roads. "That's totally untrue. The Minister for Finance can't get his hands on it." On foot of the radio report, a coalition of environmental groups issued a statement condemning the alleged Government decision as "an outrage and a kick in the teeth for both the environment and the Government's own claimed policy on sustainability".
These groups, under the Earth Summit Ireland banner, are producing their own "alternative country report" for the Johannesburg summit, highlighting the impact of the Celtic Tiger economy in producing "10 years of unsustainable development" here.
The Minister himself conceded that progress towards sustainable development in Ireland, as in the rest of the world, was "slower than had been hoped" and would require a deeper integration of environmental considerations in all areas.
"At its heart, sustainable development is about people and quality of life, now and in the future. It's about managing our relationship with the natural environment so that we can achieve economic prosperity and social progress while living within our natural means."
Asked about the census figures showing a population explosion in the counties surrounding Dublin, Mr Cullen said the answer that would be provided by the National Spatial Strategy would be to put investment into other areas so that they would grow as well.
On climate change, the review published yesterday acknowledges that reducing Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions to meet the Kyoto Protocol target would be a major challenge.
He also said Ireland had been actively participating in the EU's "ambitious approach" to Johannesburg with a view to negotiating time-bound commitments at global level for real progress on water, sanitation, renewable energy and habitat protection.
But the Green Party's environment spokesman, Mr Ciaran Cuffe TD, said it was clear from the review that the National Climate Change Strategy had been "shattered and that Minister Cullen will be travelling to Johannesburg with no clear commitment to reducing emissions".
