Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)

We must ensure that any legislation passed in this area does not become used by cranks. It is a truism that wherever there are neighbours, there will be disputes. New living and settlement patterns especially in apartment blocks mean that people live in closer proximity than ever before and this can lead to friction and disputes. As legislators we should do everything we can to ensure that unreasonable demands from a neighbour are not unfairly entertained by local authorities. Where there is a legitimate grievance, I agree that local authorities should be available to sort out the matter but not in cases where the complaint is driven by malice or spite, or bad neighbours.

Fine Gael is also a little concerned by the provisions in section 12 relating to barking dogs. While it is obviously not right to keep a hound in the back garden barking constantly, we must be careful to ensure that this Bill becomes more than an order to muzzle all dogs. Fine Gael would also seek to amend the Bill relating to the provisions that where the local authority receives two or more complaints regarding the same dwelling or premises within a two-week period from the issuing of the notice, a fine of €100 shall be imposed. It should be made more explicit in the legislation that the complaints would have to come from two separate households and not two complaints from the one person or household. The complaint should be independently verified by an independent witness.

On the issue of house and car alarms, I suggest we need to look beyond the issue of personal responsibility and instead concentrate on the type of products being put on the market. The Green Party will be more aware than most of the campaign in Europe to eliminate the standby function on electrical items such as televisions and video recorders. Leaving such machinery on standby is hugely wasteful and damaging to the environment. It is up to us to fully switch off appliances and not leave them on standby. It would be preferable if the standby function simply did not exist on such items. While Fine Gael favours this Bill, manufacturers of these house and car alarms need to be compelled to build into their design an automatic switch off function which means the noise ceases when they are sounded and ignored. This function should be installed on all alarms. I would be interested to hear the views of the Minister of State on this issue.

Fine Gael compliments the Green Party on proposing this Bill. While we cannot support every provision we will be supporting it in principle at this stage and look forward to a vigorous debate later as suggested by the Minister of State. It is to be regretted that the Minister of State did not allow this Bill to proceed to Committee Stage for debate.

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