I am trying to elicit information in regard to temporary dumps and I should like to get that information from the Minister. In what way is asbestos waste being made safe in the temporary dumps? Has the Minister considered the danger of fire in those dumps and the effect of that on the population?

The surveillance of the temporary dumps is being handled by the local authorities concerned, in the main by Dublin County Council. The advice of the Department of the Environment on asbestos waste disposal was set out in a circular dated 30 July 1982 at the direction of the then Minister, Deputy Burke. That circular requested local authorities to set up co-disposal facilities for industrial waste and advised that land filling was an acceptable and recognised method of disposing of asbestos waste, subject to certain specified requirements. We repeated that advice in a circular issued in 1985. The position in regard to temporary dumping is being monitored by the local authorities concerned. The Deputy can obtain exact details of the location of the temporary dumps if he questions the local authorities. I regret I am not in a position to give the Deputy the locations of those dumps.

Will the Minister give specific details of how local authorities should look after temporary storage?

It is being stored safely in the short term.