Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response and join him in paying tribute to the emergency services on the manner in which they responded to the fire and on the work they continue to do. I am glad there will be investigations by the Garda, the fire service and the Environmental Protection Agency. Will the Minister come back to us with the results of those investigations? Thankfully, major injuries and death were avoided in this incident but, as Deputy Crowe said, if there are lessons to be learned, recommendations should emanate from any such reports which might allow the Minister to amend legislation, if required, to guarantee absolute safety for all those who live in the vicinity of these plants and to ensure nothing like this happens again and, more important, there is not the opportunity for anything like this to happen again. I mentioned the Garda and the fire service in the context of security adjacent to the site. If the EPA recommends alterations to the regulatory process and if that means amendment of legislation, the Minister should be committed to doing that.

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