Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)

I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his new position and thank the Minister and Ministers of State. The area in question has been a bone of contention for many years. The issue has an awful history. This was the old Dunsink Lane, which linked up to Castleknock. It is in the Castleknock area, but many refer to it as being in Finglas. As I outlined, approximately 200 people live there in the most appalling conditions. What is literally a new landfill on the road is being dumped on and constantly built up. Over the years, the road was blocked off by a barrier against my wishes, but the politicians who represented the area went along with it. I warned them it would cause problems. It is now a no-go area where dumping is constant.

I have gone to Europe, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and Fingal County Council regarding the issue. The Minister has supplied a standard answer, but I am not satisfied with the response from the council or the EPA. We need to tackle the problem. The area is beside the old Dunsink dump, which has been decommissioned in the past seven years. It is experiencing serious anti-social problems. To get everything right, we need to work out a plan to reopen the road as a main artery, thereby alleviating traffic problems and improving people's quality of life. The number of rats and the amount of water flowing up and down the road are horrendous. Even the emergency services cannot travel the road. When a child was killed there in a fire, the emergency services struggled to get up and down the road. I need more pressure put on Fingal County Council, the authority that deals with this area, and I hope the Minister's good office will do that.

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