The Green Party has accused the Government of throwing good public money after bad into the Poolbeg incinerator.

Fine Gael and Labour Councillors are breaking every promise they made to stop the facility, according to the Greens.

A report to South Dublin County Council indicates that construction is due to start on the €350 million Poolbeg incinerator as funding from the National Pension Reserve Fund rescues the project from financial oblivion.

Green Party Environment Spokesperson Malcolm Noonan said: "The Government is pouring good public money after bad into a project that was flawed from the start.

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"The Councils have already wasted €90 million promoting the concept but we should now write off that loss and switch to more economic and sustainable waste solutions. Instead the Government is using what remains of our National Pension Reserve to push through a project that was unable to get private financing.

"The Poolbeg incinerator was a grandiose project of the Celtic Tiger era and is now essentially defunct. Since the project began enriching consultants in the mid-1990s, recycling rates have mushroomed, waste collection is no longer under local authority control and better alternatives have emerged to replace this clearly unsustainable project.

"It is not yet certain that the project will be built because of legal questions surrounding the tendering process that was involved. That uncertainty is now all the greater because what was meant to be a private financed project is turning out to be a publically funded white elephant."

(CD)