Redacted minutes of meeting released online

Minutes of the meeting between Phil Hogan and Michael Lowry were released online last night by the Department of Environment.

The brief record was redacted for commercially sensitive reasons, a spokesman said.

It shows that they were accompanied by Jack O’Reilly and Edmond O’Reilly, directors with Filmco, and two department officials.

The directors outlined the history of their dealings with the scheme to recover farm plastics waste. The firm built a premises in 2007 to wash farm plastics. They said they needed tonnes of plastics per annum to operate the business. There was also discussion around the exportation of such waste.

Mr Hogan said he had no powers to direct particular waste to particular facilities. He said he was in the process of reviewing waste policy generally and invited Filmco to make a submission.

Opposition TDs, meanwhile, accused Mr Hogan of “double standards” over the Lowry meeting. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin questioned why the environment minister had met with Mr Lowry but not the residents of Priory Hall who were forced out of their apartment complex in north Dublin due to fire safety concerns.

Jan O’Sullivan, the housing minister, has met with the residents.

Sinn Féin councillor Micheal MacDonncha accused Mr Hogan of treating residents with disdain. Fianna Fáil senator Thomas Byrne said he was “disappointed for the heartbroken residents in Priory Hall who have been denied a meeting with Phil Hogan”.