Tánaiste Michael McDowell has raised doubts as to whether the Progressive Democrats will go into government with Fianna Fáil if the Poolbeg incinerator goes ahead as planned by Dublin City Council.
After submitting his personal objection to the facility at Croke Park this morning, Mr McDowell said his party was never on side with the idea of incinerators and their coalition partners were aware of that.
There has been strong opposition among residents of Irishtown, Ringsend, Sandymount, and surrounding areas, and nearly 3,000 objections to the plans have been filed.
Mr McDowell also claimed today that Dublin City Council lied about the stalling of talks with the Danish company that has the option to operate the facility, and says that the public private partnership process will have to begin again.
But Green Party chairman John Gormley has branded the Tánaiste's promise a "pathetic last gasp effort to regain credibility on the issue".
Mr Gormley, who also objects to the incinerator, along with Fianna Fáil's Eoin Ryan and Labour TD Ruairí Quinn, added: "People should see through this election gimmick.
"Stopping the incinerator was a central plank of Michael McDowell's election campaign in 2002. He told voters that he would be best placed of all the candidates to stop the project as he would be sitting at the cabinet table and could change government policy. Once elected, however, Minister McDowell forgot about that promise," Mr Gormley said.
Mr Quinn, whose constituency is Dublin South East, said: "This project has been poorly planned and poorly implemented by Dublin city officials to date, and the last thing the people of Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount need is another disaster like the Sewage Treatment Plant on their doorsteps."
Dublin City Council maintains the incinerator will provide electricity for the equivalent of 50,000 homes and heating for a further 60,000.
However, waste management company Greenstar recently commissioned a report that said alternatives to the incinerator had not been considered.
It questioned whether the Poolbeg proposal would deliver the economies of scale anticipated because of issues such as haulage costs and the size of catchment area.