Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates. It is really important that they are here.

They are focusing attention on the outstanding issues, particularly in the context of a no-deal Brexit in the event of a crash-out. The environment has not been considered in that context. The committee has been active in dealing with other outstanding issues in the context of the Good Friday Agreement. It is important that the delegates are here to bring the focus on this. The Good Friday Agreement is recognised internationally. If the environment is one of the areas of cross-co-operation and if an environmental issue arose in the event of a crash-out, would that not take precedence internationally? I was not quite sure what Ms Hough was saying at the end of her contribution. She launched her report in Queen’s University. What has been the level of engagement with the political parties in the North on environmental issues? There is no Government in place in the North at present. Is Ms Hough's organisation working with the parties in Northern Ireland on the important issues she has raised?

I recently attended a presentation on environmental issues. The presentation in question was interesting because two opinions were put forward. One was to the effect that in the absence of a Government in the North, certain things are happening which should not be happening but that when the Executive was in place, these appeared to be happening. I will cite some examples. One relates to the River Faughan and the Sperrin Mountains in the context of illegal dumping, water issues and the extent of the mining and quarrying taking place there. In that regard, I refer, in particular, to a Canadian gold mining company and what it is bringing into the area, namely, a cyanide processing plant, mercury smelting and an explosive store, not to mention the impact this has on the local population and the archeological sites in the area. There is a perception that what is happening is being facilitated by the absence of an Executive in the North and that there do not appear to be any calls from political parties to put a stop to it.

The second example concerns a pig factory in Limavady. An incredible number of pigs and sows are kept on the farm and this has an impact in terms of slurry, etc. It appears that an environmental impact assessment was never carried out. In the absence of there being an Executive in place in the North, was it easier for these things to happen? The perception is that when there was one in place, it was not turning its attention to those issues. How seriously are environmental issues being taken on board with or without an Executive in place?