The petitions committee of the EU parliament is to send a non-Irish member to attend the upcoming oral hearing into Fingal County Council's plans for a "superdump" at Lusk in north Co Dublin. John Downesreports.
The nominated MEP, Spanish representative David Hammerstein-Mintz, will report back to the committee after attending the Environmental Protection Agency hearing. The decision was welcomed by campaigners against the proposed landfill, who made a presentation to the committee in Brussels yesterday.
This could take place as early as January, although the action group campaigning against the development at Nevitt, Lusk, is calling for it to be held at a later date to facilitate preparations by its legal team.
Labour MEP and committee member Proinsias De Rossa said Mr Hammerstein-Mintz would make recommendations to the committee as to what further steps could be taken to ensure that decisions made were fully in conformity with EU law.
He said that in the course of the committee meeting, the EU Commission had confirmed it could not initiate infringement proceedings, as no decision had yet been made.
But it would examine all the evidence presented by the petitioners and the comments made by MEPs with a view to making contact with the Irish authorities.
"It is clear from the evidence presented by the Nevitt/Lusk Action Group that there have been serious omissions from the Environmental Impact Assessment report prepared for the county council," he said.
Gemma Larkin, spokeswoman for the action group, said it had sought the help of the committee to protect the area's ground water.