Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will support the Bill because I support putting some system in place to address the issue. While County Leitrim was mentioned, other areas in counties Sligo and Cavan and elsewhere are dying, not least in the form of schools and football clubs, as Deputy Martin Kenny noted. Rural people from certain areas cannot obtain planning permission because of the current situation. We should most sincerely try to bring in a system where people can be allowed to live in their own areas. In farming communities, when young farmers take over family farms and so on, they cannot build on their own land. Deputy Martin Kenny's proposal is reasonable. It will allow a local authority to issue a discharge licence provided there is no pollutant in the discharge. I accept that the matter has persisted for some time and it is a big issue in many places. We should try to do whatever we can to facilitate the families affected. Not everybody can live in a town or village; some people must live on the land they farm and it is not viable to move away. We are trying to keep local rural areas alive.

I compliment Deputy Martin Kenny on his Bill, which we will support.