The Ministers for Justice and Environment are on a collision course over plans to introduce a fast-track planning system for major infrastructure projects.
Divisions between Mr McDowell and Mr Cullen emerged yesterday when Mr McDowell said that he opposed putting planning decisions about the location of waste incinerators into the proposed fast-track system.
Putting incinerators into the fast-track scheme is believed to be a key part of the plan being prepared by Mr Cullen, who hopes to bring a formal proposal to the Cabinet before Christmas.
Mr McDowell also made a strident attack on Dublin City Council, which plans an incineration plant at the Poolbeg peninsula in his constituency.
He said "unelected officials" in the council had used legally flawed criteria to select the site. He also said the council's environmental impact statement was grossly defective and accused the council of mounting a misleading campaign to "pretend that the public were being consulted".
Dublin City Council said last night that the environmental impact statement was not yet complete. The council defended its information campaign and said the statutory planning process would not begin until next year.
The fast-track planning system would bypass the statutory process. Unveiled by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, at the Fianna Fáil ardfheis, such a system would enable local authorities to bypass the appeals mechanism in the planning system to fast-track projects. With landfill waste sites under increasing pressure, such a system would greatly increase prospects of introducing incinerators into waste management systems by avoiding the opposition of "not-in-my-back-yard" lobby groups.
Mr McDowell's opposition to such a measure is now clear. The tension between the PD Minister and his Fianna Fáil colleague emerged after Mr McDowell expressed strong opposition at a residents' association meeting to the plan for an incinerator at Poolbeg. The meeting was attended by the Green TD, Mr John Gormley, who issued a statement claiming that Mr McDowell had said he would vote in the Cabinet against the inclusion of incineration in Mr Cullen's plan.
Mr Gormley also said Mr McDowell had described the proposed incinerator as a "ready up" driven by Dublin City Council and the Department of the Environment under Mr Cullen.
A PD spokesman denied that Mr McDowell had indicated how he would vote at Cabinet.
Mr McDowell did not make that specific denial in the lengthy statement which he issued yesterday. The statement said Mr Gormley's account was misleading and divisive, and had breached the "spirit" of the meeting. Mr Gormley denied this, saying there was no agreement not to issue media statements about the meeting.
Mr McDowell made his opinions clear on Today FM radio yesterday. He said: "The proposal has never come before Cabinet for a decision. As to whether it should have such a capacity, as far as I'm concerned I'm opposed to it, and I believe the Progressive Democrats are opposed to any such power being given in respect of something of this magnitude to a body that is likely to be less responsive to public opinion." When asked whether Mr McDowell had reflected his party's policy in these remarks, a spokesman said the PD parliamentary party had yet to have a discussion on the matter.
The PD spokesman said there was no proposal before Government. He also said that Mr McDowell would be bound by collective responsibility in any decision that was taken by the Cabinet.
Mr McDowell's decision to publicly express reservations about such a plan were seen last night as a warning shot to Mr Cullen, who said last month that the Government's main priority in the targeting of foreign direct investment was the provision of national waste management infrastructure. Mr Cullen's spokesman would not provide any details last night about the plans that he is preparing. He said any measures would be for the Cabinet to discuss.
