Council refutes McDowell incinerator claim

CONFUSION surrounded the fate of the controversial Poolbeg incinerator last night after Tánaiste Michael McDowell said the project had collapsed, only to be contradicted by Dublin City Council.

Danish company Elsam had agreed a public-private partnership with the council to build and operate the incinerator, to be located on the Poolbeg peninsula in Mr McDowell’s Dublin South-East constituency.

However, the Tánaiste yesterday claimed Elsam’s takeover by Danish Oil and Natural Gas [DONG] had caused the project to collapse. “[Elsam] has been taken over by a new parent company which has signalled to Dublin City Council that it has no further interest in the project.”

The council, however, quickly responded with a statement of its own, conceding there were contractual issues to be resolved, but stressing the project was “still on track”.

It admitted that DONG wished to “make changes to the commercial arrangements” agreed between Elsam and the council, but said discussions were ongoing. It also said the statutory processes, including the planning application to An Bord Pleanála and the licence application to the Environmental Protection Agency, were continuing.

“The waste-to-energy project for Dublin is still going ahead,” said assistant city manager Matt Twomey.

“DONG wish to make changes to the commercial arrangements of the project, including how the project will be financed, and we are in discussions with them about the changes they wish to make.”

Fine Gael councillor Lucinda Creighton accused Mr McDowell of “jumping the gun” and causing major distress to his constituents by saying the project had collapsed when that wasn’t the case. However, the PDs issued a second statement on Mr McDowell’s behalf last night, saying he was right to use the word “collapsed”.

Significantly, Mr McDowell did not say the incinerator would not proceed, merely that the council would have to seek another company to build it.

“It was confirmed yesterday to the Tánaiste by the Department of the Environment that Dublin City Council’s existing partner in the project did not wish to proceed,” the statement read. “Therefore it’s fair to say that the agreement has collapsed. If DCC intends to proceed they will have to go back to the market and start the process again of finding another partner.”