A DUBLIN local authority has spent millions of euro of taxpayers' money buying an illegal dump so that it can form part of an official landfill site.
Fingal County Council bought the land on which the illegal dump was sited to build the Tooman Nevitt landfill in north Dublin, currently being considered for planning permission by An Bord Pleanala.
Information released to a local opposition group says the council spent €8.3m buying the 40 acres of land on which the dump is located.
Waste operators Greenstar said the decision to purchase the site could contravene Government policy which required that illegal landfills were cleaned up by the landowner.
Yesterday, the council's director of services PJ Howell said the illegal dump was an "historic" landfill on which dumping continued after the expiry of a waste licence.
"We bought it because it was a strategic bit of land we needed."
The proposed new landfill, if granted permission, will accept half a million tonnes of waste each year and operate for up to 30 years.
Irish Independent
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