Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Walsh. I thank him for his attendance, his contribution and his original petition. He has highlighted various elements. He has a great knowledge of and interest in this. As Deputy Buckley said, the legislation is already here. It needs to be implemented and enforced where necessary. I was particularly pleased to hear Mr. Walsh mention my county council, in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, which took this step a number of years ago. There was hesitation about it. Mr. Walsh mentioned the weeds and so on that he saw on his route through Dublin to Leinster House. There is a knock-on effect. Some pesticides and herbicides do what they say on the tin, but there are unseen impacts on the environment. That is why Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown took what was, to my knowledge, a unanimous decision, and other local authorities acted too. Mr. Walsh mentioned his own county.

I was reading the guidelines and one matter stuck out. The officers of the pesticide control division in the Department will inspect local authorities for compliance with the sustainable usage of pesticides directive, SUD. Does Mr. Walsh have much information from the Department about how many inspections of local authorities have been conducted?

Colleagues have mentioned restrictions in sensitive areas. Mr. Walsh mentioned playgrounds. Where these are used can be seen, because there is a scorched earth look to grass, to verges or to wherever it is used. Public representatives get many calls when weeds are not under control. Mr. Walsh mentioned hot foam and other methods. All of those should be used. They are better for the environment. Some Irish companies produce the chemical-free agents that local authorities could use. One in my area, VivaGreen, has many non-chemical, non-invasive products which work. Is Mr. Walsh aware of other, preferably Irish, companies that are doing that too? Mr. Walsh might answer those, then I will come back in if possible.