Madam - Would someone please enlighten me as to the remit of a Government Minister? Since taking office, all Minister for the Environment John Gormley seems to have achieved is to invent new excuses as to why he, as Minister, is "powerless" to intervene in various crimes against the environment.
Indeed, after the latest fiasco, I feel that Mr Gormley is about as green as a red traffic light. - Yours, etc,
D K HENDERSON.
Castle Avenue,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.
Madam, - The public debate over the Poolbeg incinerator is marred with misinformation. Here are some pertinent facts:
• The overall risk of dying due to emissions from incineration in any one year is one in four million, according to a report in the Journal of Public Healthby Roberts and Chen. The same report lists the risk of dying by smoking 10 cigarettes a day at 1 in 200, and the risk of death by all natural causes (aged 40) at 1 in 850.
• The European Commission's report, "Waste management options and climate change" (2001) states that where incinerators are replacing coal-fired electricity generating plant and are in CHP mode, mass-burn incineration would be the best overall option in terms of greenhouse gas flux.
While the residents of the area might have a valid complaint regarding increase in truck traffic through the area, perhaps their frustration could be assuaged through the provision of cheap district heating, when this finally comes online. - Yours, etc,
CONOR LAWLOR,
School of Engineering,
IT Sligo,
Ballinode,
Co Sligo.