Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I was particularly glad to hear Deputy White mention she was so interested in reading some few years ago when she was clearly quite young. I must take up a little reading. I was regaled by Deputy Durkan's contribution and I am sorry the Acting Chairman had to cut him off because he was going very well. I was going tell him I must check with him and Deputy White about my lost gardening skills. I had such skills a long time ago but seem to have forgotten them. I must pick them up again. I listened to Deputy Varadkar's contribution and I was glad to hear him say this is a good piece of legislation and Fine Gael will support it. It was good that he acknowledged the work of our MEPs. This week I had the opportunity to meet a number of them when they were home, if they do not mind my using that phrase. I particularly mention my Dublin colleague Eoin Ryan, MEP, because he has taken a particular interest in this subject. I look forward to seeing Mr. Ryan in Tallaght this week where he will come out, as he often does, to deal with Lisbon issues and other matters that are of concern to us as we represent, in my case, a major population centre here in Dublin. As other colleagues have mentioned Tallaght I will not be worried about doing so the odd time.

I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, who has been particularly helpful to all of us. I am glad to hear Deputy Durkan also praising his work. I have raised a number of issues that fall into his remit as Minister with responsibility for labour affairs and he has been particularly generous in his support of the work I am attempting to do. I do not want to talk too much today about job losses in Tallaght but he has been helpful on that and I appreciate it. It is right that we acknowledge the clearly effective job he is doing and the work he has done on this Chemicals Bill. When I recently began to read about the Chemicals Bill, like everybody else, I asked him — and I am nearly afraid to say this — what it is all about. I have listened to most of the contributions today including the Minister's very fine contribution. Only when one reads such legislation and listens to the debate does one realise, as another speaker said, that this affects us on a daily basis. Sometimes one thinks it does not.

It is good that we are down to earth today. Like everybody else, and I hope this was shared across the benches, I was on a high yesterday having watched television coverage of the events in Washington. From talking to some people in the United States this morning I know the Taoiseach has done a tremendous service to the country and people have responded in a very positive way to his speech, not only here, as I would expect, but throughout Europe. Having spoken to some people this morning, including my sister who is on a few days break in Boston, I can tell the House for a fact that it has gone down extremely well. It is good to acknowledge that and it is good that we are back down to earth today dealing with issues of concern to people here.

While it may not be possible to say that as we go about our constituencies, whether in Dublin West, Cork, Carlow-Kilkenny, Dublin South-West or Dublin South-Central, people are stopping us to talk about the Chemicals Bill, they are talking to us about issues that are of concern to them. People often talk about our use of technology and ask if our use of computers and mobile telephones in our daily lives does us any harm. That may also include the food we eat. We all like our food and are all careful enough. I follow a diet since my little health scare some years ago and am always very careful. Still one wonders whether we will discover in 20 or 30 years that some of the things we do, consume or come into contact with are doing us harm. The jury may be out for a long time on some of those issues. In a discussion on this important piece of legislation it is important that we understand and acknowledge that.

It is important we acknowledge the issuing by the Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, and our Taoiseach of the emergency planning literature. Sometimes people might guffaw about these things but we should understand their importance. Emergency planning is part of the Minister's remit with regard to this Bill. As other speakers have acknowledged, this is something to which we need to give attention. It is only when something horrendous happens that we realise how important these measures are. I am glad to say I supported the issuing of the emergency planning booklet and I raised the issue on a number of occasions with our colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Dea. I am glad the distribution appears to have been effective. I have seen the booklet in many houses. Importantly, householders are paying attention to it. However, Deputy Durkan made the point — I am not afraid to say this from the Government benches — that there are still issues that must be dealt with. People have written to me, for example, about the availability of health services in cases of an emergency. There are still issues about which people are concerned and it is fair that we raise these.

The Chemicals Bill, as a number of speakers have pointed out, is drafted in the context of a commitment made under the programme for Government to implement the EU regulatory framework covering the manufacturing and use of chemicals in a way that does not affect the competitiveness of our economy. It is important that we stress this point, which is relevant in the context of current worries about the economy. We all saw the report issued by the OECD on Monday in the presence of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, Deputy Cowen. We should remind ourselves of the importance of competitiveness, particularly in the context of this Bill.

The purpose of the Bill is to put in place an administrative and enforcement framework for various pieces of EU chemicals legislation. There are no substantive rules on chemicals, as such, in the Bill because they are contained in the EU regulations which are directly applicable to Ireland. Reference has been made to some of the measures proposed in the Bill, which include the designation of a number of national authorities, including the Health and Safety Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of Health and Children and the Revenue Commissioners, as being responsible for specific areas of enforcement which draw on the most relevant expertise and areas of competence across the system. Speakers have singled out some of these agencies and there are some, including the Department of Health and Children, that we could talk about all day.

I wish to mention the important work of the Environmental Protection Agency. Issues are raised with the EPA on a regular basis. I have just spent a couple of days in Wexford, where the EPA is based, at a meeting of the British Irish Interparliamentary Body. I was thinking the other day about the environment, which is something we should all do. As the Acting Chairman, Deputy Ardagh, knows, because it is quite close to the constituency boundary that he and I share, there are issues in my constituency that I often have cause to raise with the EPA, particularly the operation of the baling station in Ballymount, which is regularly of concern to my constituents in Green Park and the Greenhills area. I suspect the Acting Chairman also receives calls from the Walkinstown-Crumlin area, which I know well as that is where I come from. We need to understand that people have such concerns.

As I said earlier, often we do not know whether something is doing us harm and we may not know for quite some time. Those of us who care about the environment — that is, nearly all of us — must understand people's concerns. The Acting Chairman will also be aware, from his knowledge of the Tallaght region, that there is still an issue with the old landfill site at Bohernabreena, which is now blocked. As I go about my business — I try to walk the hills fairly regularly — people stop me and talk about these issues. With the national agenda now focusing on the environment, climate change and the dangers to our future and the future of the world, it is important that we are not afraid to raise these issues. The work of the EPA, as with all other quango-type groups, attracts some critical attention at times. When I bring my concerns to its attention, I usually get a response. However, we must remain vigilant and continue to give these matters particular attention.

I have been spending some time lately going to different schools around my constituency because it is important that politicians engage with young people in their schools. It is one way of dealing with the cynicism that young people sometimes feel about politics, which I suppose we have all experienced. I find that when one talks to young people of all ages, they talk about their local environments and the dangers to their communities. As one reads through this Bill, one sees many provisions to deal with issues that could cause disasters in the future. I will not repeat what other colleagues, including Deputy White, have said, but we have all experienced shock at disasters involving chemicals that have occurred abroad — there but for the grace of God we go. It is important that we are vigilant in this regard. We must understand that legislation and regulations such as these will be at their most effective, and their true importance will only be seen, if something such as this occurs. The Minister of State and his officials who worked on this legislation have taken this into account and we should acknowledge this. The Minister of State has introduced a Bill that is accepted across the floor of the House and that is to his credit. I wish him well next week and beyond and I ask him to keep my number handy because I look forward to his continued help.

It is important that we note the range of enforcement powers in the Bill that are aimed at encouraging compliance and discouraging non-compliance, including, I am told, the issuing of directions for improvement plans, the issuing of contravention and prohibition notices and powers to apply to the courts for orders prohibiting certain activities. I am glad to note the provisions for penalties for offences that are contained in the Bill. I hope this will make people sit up and take notice. I am also pleased to note the provisions to make public certain information in the interests of protecting human health and the environment and to protect whistleblowers who report breaches of chemicals law in good faith. I know my colleague, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, referred to the protection of whistleblowers and we have often discussed this issue in the context of other Bills. We must continue to encourage such provisions.

I wish the Minister of State well with the Bill. I compliment him on his work and thank him for his time.

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