Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to make a contribution to this important debate. On what is a difficult day for the Minister, I appreciate that he has remained in the House for the entire debate. I pay tribute to him as a constituency colleague because he has been active on this issue and he approaches it with great passion and commitment.

As our party spokesperson, Deputy Timmy Dooley, said, we very much support the debate. The issue needs to be discussed more regularly in the House. The debate has been interesting and while, naturally, we would like the Government to do more, we all agree that we have a massive problem with the plastics industry. However, we also have to recognise that there are several hundred firms in the industry which provide thousands of jobs. Deputy Catherine Connolly referred to the number of staff and the revenue generated by the industry in a European context. Nevertheless, as we drive through the countryside - the Minister has been angered by this - we can see what has happened and local people are angry and annoyed. The N5 runs through our constituency from Tarmonbarry on the County Longford border to Ballaghdereen on the County Mayo border and the littering on that national route is so bad that people are proposing to go on the road to slow traffic down, which I would not advise them to do, and show motorists what they have to clean up on the side of the road. They find plastic cups, nappies, used contraceptives, clothes and newspapers. Tyres are dumped in abundance beside roads.

The Minister diverted money for litter control into our area to clean up a mess. While one person dumping a small bag is against the law and he or she must be dealt with, groups are going around under cover of darkness and telling people that they will dump their bags of litter for a small charge. There are not legitimate operators and they are doing enormous damage throughout the country. We have to implement laws to deal harshly with them. I do not seek a severe penalty on a minor offender but these operators need to be dealt with. People can tell the Minister where this activity is a problem. One tonne bags are filled to the brim with waste and thrown on to our bogs. It is difficult to identify who is doing this but we need to review legislation in this regard and take a no-holds-barred approach to dealing with these people. Let us cut to the chase; they should be jailed. They will keep doing this unless we introduce legislation. I accept that others dumping waste must be dealt with under the law but not to the same extent. These groups operate under the dark of night and are taking waste from people who may be unable to pay for their waste to be collected. However, I always say to constituents that if they have a problem getting rid of their waste, they should get on to their local authority to deal with it and not dump it in the countryside.

It is great that all schools at primary and second level are into recycling and litter prevention in a major way. They have adopted the green message and that gives me hope for the future. However, we are at a critical juncture and the House will have to take action to deal in a serious way with this major issue.

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