Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all the participants and I thank them for the information they have provided. Mr. O'Leary said that he welcomed the "RTÉ Investigates: Ireland's Wild Waste" programme and that he accepted problems exist. He spoke about the resources and about the change the EPA has had to go through. Does he believe that the EPA has adequate resources to make that change? He took the committee through the steps and said that the agency was responding to the difficulties in the sector. He also said that a large chunk of the agency's work relates to waste management and that this has been a drag on its resources. Is the agency adequately resourced to address the situation it now finds itself in?

I thank Mr. Neely for his presentation in which he seems to take a slightly different tack on the programme and he questions if Donegal County Council was treated fairly, which is a valid question from his perspective. To the uneducated observer watching the programme it painted Donegal in an exceptionally bad light. This is why I find it difficult to understand him when he said that he felt the council had adequate resources at the time. Perhaps it did but in light of the programme does he believe that the council had adequate resources? With the benefit of hindsight, or with the benefit of the programme, does he accept that the council needs a considerably increased level of resource deployed in that area?

Mr. Neely also said that some of his council staff encounter intimidation, which is a serious issue. How many incidents of this type of intimidation have been reported to the Garda? How many prosecutions have taken place as a result of that or what follow-up activity has taken place by the Garda? Have the incidents been treated in a manner that Mr. Neely is happy with? Has this work been tracked? This goes to the nub. It does not matter if one has three times the staff working in this area, if there is insidious behaviour or threats and intimidation, then I can understand how a public servant is not going to put his or her life, or his or her family's lives, at risk. One hopes the authorities would treat this seriously on another level. It is not just because of the impact on the environment, which is huge, but also because if a person is involved in that behaviour and yet feels they are part of a legitimate business there is no place for those companies to have any role or to be given any licence. It is important that this issue be addressed adequately by the justice system.