One of the fiercest critics of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) report supporting the Poolbeg waste incinerator was sent an advance copy of the report by environment minister John Gormley's office last December, it has emerged.

A spokesman for Gormley confirmed that Dr Dominic Hogg, who carried out an earlier international review of best waste-management practice commissioned by Gormley's department, had been sent a draft copy of the report "as a matter of courtesy".

The spokesman said the minister had not contacted the ESRI at any stage since the publication of the report to request that it be re-examined.

However, along with Gormley, Hogg has been a major critic of the report, and has pointed out a number of problems with its contents.

Following Hogg's intervention, the ESRI last week decided to re-examine its own report, after it admitted that it contained a number of factual errors.

Fine Gael has previously claimed that Gormley engaged in a "smear campaign" against the ESRI in an attempt to discredit its report, which endorsed Dublin City Council's plan for a municipal waste incinerator on the Poolbeg peninsula.

It is understood that Gormley only became aware that Dublin City Council had commissioned the ESRI to
compile the report in mid-­December.

"The minister's office sought a copy of the report when it became aware of it," his spokesman said. "He was provided with a draft copy and forwarded this onto Dominic Hogg as a matter of courtesy."

Dr Hogg, who works for British consultants Eunomia, is in the process of compiling a detailed letter outlining "further errors" he has identified in the controversial ESRI report. It is expected to be sent to the ESRI later this week.

In an interview with RTé's News At One earlier this month, Gormley claimed that the ESRI had "been drawn into what is clearly a public relations campaign on behalf of Dublin City Council and Covanta [the US company appointed to build the incinerator]".

He also described the report as an attempt to "undermine government waste policy" and subsequently said it was "misleading and not based on the facts".

Paul Gorecki, one of the report's authors, told the Sunday Tribune that the ESRI is considering the comments which have been made on the report, and would issue a response in due course.

"The ESRI has not yet received any comments from Dr Hogg," he added.