Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

Since coming to office in 1997, the Government and its immediate predecessor have been engaged in modernising Ireland's waste management policies with some considerable success. We have well and truly set out our stall in a suite of policy documents starting with the seminal document, Changing Our Ways, and culminating in the recently published national strategy on biodegradable waste, which clearly was not read by those opposite who made contributions.

Unlike the eco-mysticism of the Green Party, our policies are grounded in the principle of integrated waste management. This focuses on waste prevention, a feature of our recent policy document, and minimisation as the main priority followed by reuse, recycling, energy recovery and utilising landfill as a last resort for residual waste. It is astonishing that any Deputy who wishes to be taken seriously in environmental issues would suggest that we have not mentioned that whole range in previous documents.

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