The Economic and Social Research Institute has defended a report which criticised Environment Minister John Gormley's proposed waste policy as having no underlying rationale and likely to impose needless costs on the economy.
The minister had claimed that the ESRI had been drawn into a public relations campaign by the operators of the planned Poolbeg incinerator and Dublin City Council designed to undermine the Government's waste policy.
The ESRI's lead author associate professor Paul Gorecki said it was completely inaccurate to suggest that the report had been influenced by Dublin City Council's position on Poolbeg.
He said the ESRI had been given a broad mandate and its report was an independent piece of work.
Paul Gorecki stated 'the report is ours - warts and all.'
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment heard yesterday that Dublin City Council had paid the ESRI €103,000 plus VAT to write the analysis.
Meanwhile, the ESRI said it has yet to receive a letter from the lead author of the Government's international review of waste policy.
Dr Dominic Hogg consultants Eunomia said he would be writing to the ESRI's Director because its analysis contained factual errors, erroneous assumptions which, if corrected, would lead the Institute to the same conclusions he had made.
Speaking to RTÉ this morning, Mr Gorecki said he had yet to receive any correspondence from Dr Hogg but that the Institute would respond to any communication, and correct any errors, if any were identified.
