Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Will the Taoiseach note that these questions are timely given the publication today of an EU report that highlights, once again, the failure of this State to properly manage its waste? Does he agree the Government in general, and his Department in particular, have a responsibility to take the lead in this regard?

Given the significant number of hard copies of reports that Deputies and Senators receive almost on a daily basis, and certainly on a weekly basis, does he agree that such documentation would be better offered on-line? Will he initiate a process whereby his Department will take the lead in this area by offering each Deputy and Senator such reports on-line or notifying them of their publication such that they will be available to them on request? Does the Taoiseach recognise that I am proposing this because, in the case of reports received by many Deputies, whose job may not be to focus on the particular issues addressed in them, they are either gathering dust on shelves or are dumped? Sadly, I suspect this occurs in many cases. Does the Taoiseach agree that his Department can and should take the lead regarding a very programmatic and determined effort to reduce the very high volume of printed reports, thereby setting an example for other Departments and society in the wider context?

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