Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)

Those who come from areas such as south Leitrim and Roscommon realise tourism offers massive potential in terms of job creation. No other sector has as much potential in my area.

The Minister has mentioned many steps that need to be taken. A solution needs to be found to the problem of illegal dumping and wholesale littering. There is a saying, "Where litter lies, beauty dies". People come to Ireland for a variety of reasons, but one of the main ones is the country's clean, green image. Unfortunately, when visitors come here, I do not believe they see it. Perhaps in the summer, when the grass is high and the leaves are on the trees, one cannot see much litter, but during times when there is no growth the extent of illegal dumping can be seen. It is an abomination. What joined-up thinking will there be between the Minister's Department and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with a view to doing something about this problem? One can package the tourism product whatever way one wants, but if the tourists who come here see litter left, right and centre, they will not return. I lived in Munich for nearly three years. One could literally tip one's dinner on any street and eat it, it was so clean. The same cannot be said for Ireland. Many Germans come here looking for a clean, green place only to discover that their own country is cleaner. If we are to succeed in this matter, our first step which could be one of the least expensive should be to link up with Tidy Towns organisations nationally and use the resource comprising the hundreds of thousands of unemployed, through some scheme, to help to clean up litter, perhaps with the promise of a job in the tourism sector in the future. Will there be a link between the two Departments?

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