Sinn Féin's Dublin Spokesperson on the Environment, Cllr. Daithí Doolan, held a public meeting on 29 November to inform residents what steps they can take to stop the proposed Poolbeg incinerator.

Cllr. Daithí Doolan said, “Local people are angry and disappointed but definitely not beaten. The public had hoped that by electing a Green Environmental Minister that our environment would be protected but that has proven untrue.”

The public meeting was organised to give local people an opportunity to have their say and to agree on the way forward for the anti-incinerator campaign. Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald attended the meeting with other invited guests and gave the EU perspective on incineration. People attending the meeting were urged to protest about the decision of the EPA and shown how to go about this.

A protest rally was held at Sean Moore Road roundabout on Thursday 6 December to further raise awareness of the anti-incineration campaign.

On Tuesday 20 November 2007, the Taoiseach told the Dáil that the Minister for the Environment John Gormley TD did not have the powers to halt the Poolbeg incinerator. Mr Ahern said John Gormley had powers to promote waste management policies and said recycling rates were increasing rapidly.

The Taoiseach said the incinerator was provided for in the Dublin Regional Waste Management Plan. He said that while the minister had certain powers in relation to these plans, they were limited ones and it was wrong that the minister could use any of his powers in a way that would halt the Poolbeg incinerator. Mr Gormley said that he was disappointed by the decision and he would work to ensure the plant did not go ahead.

Cllr Dermot Lacey said that the incinerator decision was a slap in the face for local democracy. “The decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant permission for the development of an incinerator at Poolbeg flies in the face of the evidence given at the oral hearing. It shows contempt for the interests of the local community and it confirms once again that we do not have a democratic local government system in this country. This planning application has been opposed at every step of the way by the elected members of Dublin City Council. To describe it as a Dublin City Council project is a travesty of the truth and a confirmation of the need for radical reform of local government.”

Ruairi Quinn T.D. said the decision of An Bord Pleanála to grant permission to the Poolbeg incinerator does not come as a surprise since they have in their published document cited a number of national waste management policies as they did in respect of the incinerators in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork and Carranstown, Co. Meath.

“Until such time as we see the inspector 's report, it will not be possible to fully evaluate implications of this decision. However Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley, has betrayed the trust of the electorate and the hopes of Green voters throughout the country that his arrival in the Custom House would have created a change in policy at national level.

“Significant changes in people's behaviour toward waste and recycling is reducing the amount left for disposal. The required Waste Management Plan of the four Dublin Authorities is as a result, now out of date. John Gormley as Minister has the power under Section 24(c) of the Waste Management Act 1996 to vary a required waste management plan.

“The impact on traffic in the area of the city through which refuse trucks will have to travel to feed the incinerator will be disastrous. Fianna Fáil and Minister John Gormley have failed the nation, the city and the people who placed their electoral trust in John Gormley himself. After the debacle on the Tara Motorway, one would have thought, he had learned some lessons.” Fine Gael Dublin South East TD Lucinda Creighton expressed her anger and dismay at the decision of An Bord Pleanála to approve Dublin City Council's application for permission to build a municipal waste incinerator on the Poolbeg Peninsula.

“This incinerator will be a disaster for the people of Dublin. It will be a disaster for traffic, a disaster for health, a disaster for the environment. Its size will be blight on the Dublin landscape. From a long-term policy perspective it will create an incentive for waste disposal over environmentally friendly alternatives. I have opposed this plan from the very beginning. I have worked with the people of Sandymount and Ringsend at all levels to campaign against the construction of this plant, and I am angered and hurt for the local communities that the planned incinerator has been approved. This is a defeat for local democracy, and a defeat for common sense,” she said.

Lucinda Creighton, TD said “approval for the Poolbeg incinerator has confirmed that Green Party Leader & Environment Minister John Gormley has no power and no influence in Government. Deputy Creighton said Minister Gormley's claim on Morning Ireland that he has changed Government policy in relation to incineration is pathetic, given that An Bord Pleanála claimed to be implementing Government policy in its decision.”

Dublin South East Fianna Fáil TD, Chris Andrews, says he is very disappointed with An Bord Pleanála's decision to grant planning permission for the incinerator on the Poolbeg peninsula. Chris Andrews said: “Following the campaign I brought to Europe, along with the residents of Dublin South East, I felt that the decision would have been different. I plan to meet the local residents over the coming days and I intend to look at all the options available with a view to reversing the decision. “I will support Minister Gormley in any action he takes in order to ensure that the incinerator does not get built,” said Deputy Andrews.

The EU petitions Committee recommended in October that Dublin City Council, An Bord Pleanála and the Environmental Protection Agency look again at locating the Incinerator so close to Sandymount Strand as it was a special area of conservation known for its wild fowl.

Their report by MEPs Marcin Libicki and Radu Podgorean described Dublin Bay as an area of high conservation importance and said that specific sites, namely the Liffey and Tolka estuaries, Sandymount Strand and Irishtown Nature Park were adjacent to the proposed incinerator and had not been included in the Environmental Impact Assessment for the scheme. On 22nd November 2007 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announced details of its proposed decision to grant a licence to Dublin City Council to operate a non-hazardous waste incinerator at Pigeon House Road, Poolbeg Peninsula, Dublin 4.

The proposed decision provides for the operation of an incinerator with a maximum annual intake of 600,000 tonnes of residual nonhazardous waste. This decision contains more than 109 individual conditions relating to the environmental management, operation, control and monitoring of the proposed facility. The EPA stated that it is satisfied that emissions from the facility, when operated in accordance with the conditions of the proposed licence, will not adversely affect human health or the environment and will meet all relevant