Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government and the legislative programme are clear regarding climate change. They state that the global image our country is to be transformed so that we will be recognised as one of the cleanest and safest environments in the world. That is an exaggeration and a bit of hyperbole, to say the least. The failure of the Government to legislate for a complete ban on smoky coal reflects badly on it and flies in the face of the noble aspirations in the programme for Government.

It was 1990 when former Minister, Mary Harney, brought in a smoky coal ban. We now need definite, robust action. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, when he last answered me here, promised that the Minister would be engaging with the Attorney General and that he would deal with this issue robustly. It is a terrible indictment of the Government that it is not standing up to vested interests from outside the State that are threatening to sue. I ask the Government to get on with enacting a ban and sign this measure into law. We are going backwards at the moment regarding the quality of air, and recent surveys have shown that.

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