Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)

Deputy McGrath makes accusations against me and the manner in which I chaired that meeting. These are the facts of that meeting and I will leave it up to committee members to decide. The amendments are here and I am leaving an official copy of what we dealt with on that day. We succeeded in eight hours in making substantial changes and corrections to the Bill.

There are many positive things in this Bill. Is it accurate to state that there is an opportunity here for people who have difficulties with sites and septic tanks, perhaps due to the size of the site or percolation problems? When this Bill is enacted, they will not require planning permission now. If these problems are discovered on inspection, they will have an opportunity to remedy them, something that could not happen were it not for the Bill.

Sludge is now becoming a very valuable commodity when we look at the proposals that are about to take off for anaerobic digestion. This will provide an opportunity for people and I cannot understand why Deputy McGrath is running scared of sludge when there are so many positive proposals to establish anaerobic digestion plants in his constituency.

I have outlined a typical example of how, even in this Chamber, Deputy McGrath comes in to misinform people who have the facts in front of them. Can the Acting Chairman imagine the misinformation the Deputy is spreading around the country? In respect of the 800 or so people he claims have turned up at meetings - that is totally exaggerated - I have met many people who said they went along for the entertainment. They wanted to see the comedy act that was being provided by Deputy McGrath. They are waiting to see-----

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