Around 15 protesters against a plan to locate a waste incinerator in Poolbeg, south Dublin demonstrated this afternoon, accusing An Bord Pleanála of failing to inform residents of an oral planning hearing on the issue tomorrow.
Spokesman Rory Hearne said there are 3,000 objections to the planned incinerator but that only a small number of people received written notice of tomorrow's hearing.
"We went to Dublin City Council offices because they are the lead authority on this and if they want the process to been seen as fair and legitimate it is their responsibility that people are not excluded.
"This is a disgraceful undermining of the democratic process of planning when thousands of objectors are being silenced because they are not aware that the oral hearing is taking place," said Mr Hearne, who is an election candidate for the People Before Profit Alliance.
He also called for the hearing at Croke Park to be moved to the evening because many will be unable to attend because of work commitments.
The plan to locate the residual waste incinerator is opposed by the Green Party and local TDs such as former Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn and Progressive Democrats leader and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
However, Mr Hearne hit out at the justice minister after he recently claimed the agreement with Elsam to operate the facility had collapsed because it had been taken over by Danish Oil and Natural Gas. But Dublin City Council has insisted the project would go ahead.
Mr Hearne said: "Unhelpful statements by the Tánaiste Michael McDowell suggesting the incinerator has collapsed also have left many people confused.
"The reality is the Government and the four Dublin local authorities are pushing ahead with the planned incinerator."
He reiterated local concern about dioxins being released into the local community and the traffic levels generate by the incinerator, which would burn 25 per cent of Dublin's household and non-hazardous commercial waste.
The objectors recently got support from waste management company Greenstar, which commissioned a report which 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.
The anticipated 400-600,000 tonnes to be processed was more than the total household, commercial and industrial waste the Regional Waste Management Plan expects to be generated by 2013, the report added.
It said Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBTs) have lower capital costs and shorter lead times than incinerators and included sorting, composting-style processes and recycling. It noted that countries such as Germany and Austria were using MBTs.
Dublin City Council maintains the incinerator will convert waste to energy providing electricity for the equivalent of 50,000 homes and heating for a further 60,000.
At tomorrow's hearing, the proposers and objectors will state their case before the planning inspector makes a recommendation to the board, which will then decide on whether to grant planing permission.
The hearing could last up to two weeks with a decision taking another couple of months.