The Environmental Protection Agency has granted a licence to Dublin City Council for the operation of its highly controversial waste incinerator at Poolbeg.
The plant has already secured planning permission from An Bord Pleanála to burn 600,000 tonnes of household waste each year - one of the largest capacities in Europe.
Poolbeg is also in the constituency of Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who has been a long-time opponent of the thermal treatment facility.
The EPA said its decision was subject to more than 216 conditions, and it believed the incinerator would not endanger human health or harm the environment.
The agency held a hearing into the plant last April and, in its decision today, said the licence conditions had been strengthened to reflect recommendations in the chairman's report.
'Arising from the recommendations in the Chairperson's report, the licence has been strengthened to take account of concerns expressed at the oral hearing,' an EPA spokesperson said.
'The EPA is satisfied that operation of the facility, in accordance with the conditions of the licence, will not endanger human health or harm the environment in the vicinity of the facility or over a wider area, she added.
Anyone opposed to the EPA's decision has two months to seek a judicial review in the High Court.
One of the most controversial aspects of the plant is a clause in the contract which states the council must provide the plant operator with a specified amount of waste or pay if this target is not achieved.
The council is currently the subject of legal action in the High Court from independent waste collectors Panda waste services and Greenstar over proposed changes on how collection services are regulated.
