RONNIE DEVLIN,
Sir, - The Irish Times has performed a public service by devoting a page in its edition of January 4th to highlight not only the challenge that faces this country in relation to waste management, but also the need for inevitably tough decisions to be made both by elected representatives and communities.
However, readers may wish to "compare and contrast" apparently conflicting views of the performance of the Minister for the Environment and Local Government and his Department in your coverage.
Frank McDonald, commenting on the performance of the local authority sector, says: "That's why the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, had to rush new legislation through the Oireachtas last spring stripping councillors of their decision-making powers on waste management and transferring these powers to county managers for the time being. Mr Dempsey was acutely aware of the deepening waste crisis".
One the other hand, the Editorial, having put the view that the unwillingness of local authorities to adopt waste management plans was a major inhibiting factor, states, without elaboration, "There was also Ministerial reluctance to take unpopular decisions".
I suggest that Frank McDonald's view stands up to scrutiny better than the leader-writer's conclusion. The Minister's decision to transfer powers from the local authority elected members in relation to waste management was deeply unpopular in many quarters, but very necessary.
It will be interesting to see how popular the Minister's decision to impose a 15 cent levy on disposable plastic bags from March 4th - a necessary step to tackle litter pollution from this source - will prove to be with shoppers!
Irish Times readers will, as always, judge for themselves. - Yours, etc.,
RONNIE DEVLIN,
Press Officer,
Department of the Environment
and Local Government,
Custom House, Dublin 2.