The possible dangers associated with landfill sites and incinerators will be investigated by the Health Research Board.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said yesterday he welcomed the agreement of the board to commission a study to "identify and evaluate the effects on public health and the environment of landfill and thermal treatment of waste".
The board is seeking proposals from appropriate research institutions to undertake a study of all the available information on the impact of such emissions. They must also provide a risk assessment.
Mr Dempsey said it was expected the study would be completed and the results published by early next year.
"The information currently available to me is that modern municipal waste landfills and incinerators, employing modern technologies and operating in compliance with strict environmental standards, do not present a significant risk to public health or the environment," he said.
These facilities were subject to full environmental impact assessment, planning controls and a rigorous environmental licensing system operated by the Environmental Protection Agency, said the Minister.
But he accepted many people had genuine concerns about perceived threats to public health from thermal treatment and landfill.
The Health Research Board is an independent body established to commission or conduct medical and health research, and was "well placed to provide an expert and impartial assessment of the facts," said Mr Dempsey.
Meanwhile, a team of scientific and engineering experts will be retained by the No Incineration Alliance to assist its appeal to An Bord Pleanala against last week's decision by Meath County Council to grant planning permission for a waste management plant that includes an incinerator.
About 200 people from the Drogheda/east Meath area who attended an information meeting on Thursday night were told intensive fund-raising was needed to raise the money to pay such experts.
The cost is estimated at about £150,000. The incinerator is part of a £60 million waste management facility proposed by Indaver Ireland for a site at Carranstown, about three miles from Drogheda and just inside Co Meath.
The planning permission is subject to 30 conditions, including the stipulation that the plant accepts waste only from the north-east region.
The alliance criticised Mr Dempsey for his failure to introduce legislation that would allow local authorities to take environmental and health considerations into account when deciding on planning issues.
Indaver Ireland has stated that a properly run modern incinerator does not pose health risks and says the waste-to-energy or incinerator facility will generate electricity.