Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The whole issue of health and noise is important. It sounds farcical to say we cannot add or strengthen EU regulations. This can be dealt with in several ways by the proposer. We cannot actually write in the regulation but we could list all the things in the regulation on Report Stage if we wanted to. There would be nothing to stop us doing that. It is ridiculous. Perhaps that could be considered.

I have to leave shortly but I have put forward amendment No. 38, which deals with making health explicit in the evaluation of noise effects, as do a range of other amendments. I will definitely be re-entering it on Report Stage because this goes to the heart of the entire debate. The Minister seems to be sticking by bureaucratic strictures rather than recognising that he should be making changes. If that is the case, it is 17 years old. Much has changed and much has been found out since then.