Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I wonder whether waffling Ministers could be included as a noise pollution effect. While I do not refer to the Minister of State who is present, the idea would be interesting.

I welcome this legislation from the Green Party. While there are some who might be inclined to view this proposal as slightly amusing, it highlights what is a serious problem for many people. There is substantial literature on the effect noise can have on people and it is a significant feature of anti-social behaviour. One British survey found that nearly 10% of complaints about anti-social behaviour concerned domestic noise and that the cost of tackling these issues came to more than Stg£1 million per year. The effects on those concerned included serious health problems as well as a general undermining of their quality of life.

Public representatives and local authorities here will also have experience of complaints made about domestic noise and it is obviously a problem to be dealt with. This proposal represents one such attempt. At a basic level, every person should have the right to enjoy their own home space without noise interference from neighbours or other sources, including industrial plants. The bottom line on domestic noise ought to be that no person should have to put up with interference from another which causes serious disruption to him or her.

It is only part of generalised anti-social behaviour, which is a key concern for many people, particularly in urban areas. It is interesting that when the mayor of Dublin last year established a consultation process with citizens on this, many of their recommendations were similar to my party's recommendations. These included a much more prominent and long-term role for community policing and effective measures on the part of local authorities to deal with habitual offenders and persistent problems. Sinn Féin in Dublin is currently engaged in a similar process and the response is much the same.

What most people seem to want is a more visible presence by the Garda and that the Garda would be seen to be part of the community rather than a remote, and sometimes inaccessible, external agency that only appears in emergencies, if they are lucky. There is a lack of trust between some communities and the Garda, based on a lack of understanding and contact. Many young gardaí know little or nothing of working class communities other than those who offend and are often ignorant of the sources of many of the problems, for example, around drug dealing.

An agency with the legislative authority to deal with noise issues there and then is what is needed. This legislation is long overdue. I welcome this Bill from Deputy Cuffe and the Green Party.

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