M J Nolan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I wish to share my time with Deputes O'Connor, Carey, Fiona O'Malley,Callanan and Devins.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. The growing economy and growing wealth of the country have been mirrored in the waste we produce. Over the years, particularly in the past eight years, successive Governments have acknowledged the difficulties we face in the management of our waste. The "reduce, re-use, recycle" campaign, currently very active, is being taken on board by householders. Recycling centres, bottle banks and so on are now part and parcel of every local authority and town. Villages now have their own recycling centres. All that is evidence of the genuine concern and worry of the public about our environment.

However, one of the areas of concern to all legislators and indeed the managers of our Government and local authorities is the cost of dealing with the mounting waste. Many years ago one saw what are now termed landfills but which everyone aged over 30 will recall as dumps. They were by the side of the road, normally uncovered. Every kind of vermin was around. The dumps usually had fires burning in them which seemed to go on forever. All that has now changed, and rightly so. With the police powers of the Environmental Protection Agency we now see state-of-the-art landfills throughout the country.

One of the difficulties faced by local authorities lies in acquiring new landfills and getting extensions to existing landfills. In that regard, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has set down waste management strategies for various areas and it sees landfill as only part of the strategy.

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