Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

The Minister referred to waste management. The New Horizons programme is working well and has fostered an element of stewardship among tourism bodies. What ongoing discussions is the Department involved in with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the county managers of various local authorities?

Some time ago, I asked for an investigation into allegations that staff in a cruise company were telling customers that they could dump the contents of toilets into the lakes. That is a small part of the wider problem whereby pumping stations in many county council run areas are not working so boats cannot empty material into the pumping station. When visitors find a pumping station that works, sewage facilities are often woefully inadequate and it is pumped back into the lake. Given the serious pollution of our waterways and the importance of this sort of tourism, what discussions are taking place with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and county managers? What plans are in place to tackle this problem?

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