An appeal was made in the Dail yesterday to the President, Mrs McAleese, to refer the controversial Waste Management Bill to the Supreme Court. The Bill was sent to the Seanad after passing all stages in the Dail.

Mrs Nora Owen (FG, Dublin North) urged the President, "the third element of the Oireachtas", to ask the Supreme Court to test the constitutionality of the Bill.

The Minister of State for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dan Wallace, had refused to accept a number of amendments to the Waste Management (Amendment) (No 2) Bill, 2001.

Ms Jan O'Sullivan (Labour, Limerick East) said the Bill made a mockery of the "stated intention" of the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to give more power to local democracy.

The Bill gives county managers full executive powers over waste management plans without having to refer to the elected local authority. It introduces an environmental levy of 15p per plastic bag for shoppers and higher on-the-spot litter fines.

The Hazardous Waste Management Plan published by the Environmental Protection Agency was only a "blueprint", said the Fine Gael spokeswoman on the environment, Ms Deirdre Clune. The plan placed the emphasis on "prevention and minimisation" and on developing thermal treatment and landfill facilities.

Labour was fundamentally opposed to what the Government was trying to do, said Mr Eamon Gilmore. The measures would "deny people their fundamental democratic rights" at local level and "fast-track an incineration agenda".

The Bill was a recipe for conflict, Mr Trevor Sargent (Green, Dublin North) predicted. It hardened the policy put in place in the 1996 Waste Management Act, which focused on an "out of sight, out of mind" strategy, he said.