Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

I, too, support this motion. The Green Party has done us a great service by tabling it. There is a great need for leadership on this issue and I do not feel the Government has provided it.

Communities are well capable of doing what is required if they are given direction and support. We have seen that communities in rural areas in which water schemes were not available addressed the matter themselves. The necessary Government support has not been evident.

Incineration is taking the lazy man's option and not facing up to the possibilities of reducing waste, reusing and recycling. The coming generation will be much more able to deal with these issues than we have been. The future bodes well but we must ensure we preserve the environment for our children, who will make a better fist of things than we did.

There is a rush towards privatisation. The Government has been abdicating responsibility to do what is necessary. Local authorities are run by unelected people. In Mayo, for instance, all the councillors are in favour of retaining public responsibility for the disposal of waste, yet there is a move towards privatisation just because the council is supposedly losing money. One wonders about this given that the private sector can make a profit from waste disposal. There is therefore something wrong.

We cannot abdicate responsibility for the support of older people. The State has done so in respect of private nursing homes and the same is happening in regard to waste disposal. There is a move towards big business and we are told the future lies in helping people to make a bob.

The people of Ringaskiddy made a decision that an incinerator was not for them. The local authority made the same decision, as did the inspector of An Bord Pleanála, but it was overruled on foot of Government policy. If one put the matter to a referendum, one would find that people are much more in favour of recycling than incineration. They have proven they are capable of recycling and will do so if they get the chance.

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