Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I thank Deputies on all sides of the House for the constructive discussion of this Bill and the support they have shown for it. We have had a good debate and the Green Party is flattered and a little taken aback at the approach Fianna Fáil has adopted to it. We are not used to such support and may be a little coy in our response as they say one should beware of Greeks bearing gifts. However, I am sure in this case the support is meant well and we accept and welcome it.

It is important to point out that Ireland is changing quite rapidly. When I was a child growing up in one of the few rural areas of south Dublin, the loudest noises were the milking parlour half a mile away, the local farmer's crow scarer and the cattle announcing themselves to the world on a summer's morning. However, the world has changed and Ireland is fast becoming an urban nation. The kind of issues mentioned this evening including jet skis, boy racers, intruder alarms and helicopters are the down-side of modern Ireland and we need a more rigorous system of control over unwanted noise.

More than ever before people are living in towns and cities and just as ancient Greece introduced laws and regulations to control the activities of people we need a system to update our legislation, much of which dates from 30 to 40 years ago and simply cannot be applied to life in today's dense urban settings.

I am the first to admit that this Bill is not perfect, but it is a first stab at addressing this problem in an integrated way. Deputy John Gormley spoke of helicopter noise and this should be included in the Bill. I had a debate during the week with a person who felt the levels of fines included are not high enough and I am open to discussion on that matter. More clarity is required on definitions as the sound of jingle bells over the next month, music to a retailer's ears, might be an appalling case of noise pollution to those living next door. One man's noise is another man's pleasant tune and such matters can be teased out on Committee Stage.

I accept that most issues surrounding noise can be dealt with simply by being a good neighbour but this is not what we are targeting in the Bill. We are trying to deal with what happens when things go wrong and a noise control officer should only be called upon to address a situation as a last resort. We welcome the fact that nine times out of ten, people can settle such issues simply by talking to one another. As Deputy O'Connor pointed out, conciliation and mediation are always welcome and respect is integral to making such solutions work. The point is, Ireland has changed and this Bill is a timely response. Many people are engaged in shift work and neighbours from hell exist so we must be prepared to deal with them.

Other changes are also necessary. Legislation on the Irish Aviation Authority must be reformed to include noise issues and building regulations must be improved and enforced so that noise in one apartment is not transmitted down three floors to make someone else's life a misery. Proper enforcement is needed as, despite containing detailed conditions on hours of work, planning permissions are not enforced. I know of cases in Stillorgan where people's lives are becoming a living hell due to noise from a disco in a pub nearby; licensing legislation must be used to control what goes on in such venues late at night. The Road Traffic Act can be used in certain instances but that legislation dates from the early 1960s and surely revision is required.

The point of this Bill is to establish a one stop shop — we want a person in charge on whose desk the buck stops. We seek simple measures such as having a car towed when its alarm goes off at 3 a.m. without stopping. When the alarm on a building goes off for an entire bank holiday weekend something must be done about it. This is what we are seeking in this Bill.

I thank Jane Fitzgerald for the work she did in researching this Bill and wish to point out that the increase in noise, from construction and other sources, is a down side to a booming economy. New roads are bringing their own problems in this regard and even the new DART carriages are causing issues relating to squeaking brakes. These difficulties can be tackled but a legislative framework is required to do so.

I thank Deputies for their contributions to the debate. I hope the Bill will be referred to committee.

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