Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have good time for the Minister but, to be honest, that is not an answer. In fact, the Minister did not answer the question at all. We have lost 15 months on this. The Minister knows it is an issue that is close to my heart and that I introduced the clean air strategy, but, 15 months on, nothing has happened. The smoky coal ban which was to be in place for the 2017-18 season has now been pushed back.

Children in Enniscorthy have a much higher risk of getting cancer than children in Dublin, as has been proven by research from UCC to which the Minister did not refer. We all know this is necessary. The officials who did all of this work have been left in the Customs House and have not transferred across to the Minister's Department. Has that caused the delay? I know what I am talking about because I drove this strategy, which is very close to my heart. Too many people suffer respiratory illnesses and there are 470,000 people with asthma in this country, which is the fourth highest rate in the world. This is a necessary strategy. The ban on coal in Dublin worked and saved thousands of lives. We cannot afford to have the children of Enniscorthy, and of other towns in parts of the country where there is no ban, go through another year without a ban. I ask the Minister to introduce a ban and also to put forward a clean air strategy across transportation and the other sectors. While we know this will take time, the issue in regard to smoky coal does not have to take any more time.

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