Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The dumping at sea motion provides that the responsibility for the Dumping at Sea Act be transferred to the Environmental Protection Agency. Dumping at sea creates water pollution but it does not stop at the sea. There has been a lot of discussion today about renewable energy, oil and gas, which is away from where we are going. Dumping at sea is an awful and huge issue in the area I live, which is a coastal area. I see rural social workers, community employment workers and TÚS workers cleaning up the pollutants that come into our coastline. It is a huge issue. Deputy Bríd Smith has left the Chamber but I listened to her speak on the Barryroe gas field. That licence was given well before licences had stopped being rolled out. It is not fair to pinpoint that. Deputy Smith called it the "Barrymore" field but it is Barryroe in west Cork. I know where it is because it is in my constituency but the Deputy should do better research than she is doing.

Whether the dumping is at sea or elsewhere there is massive illegal dumping in my constituency along the coastline. I praise the Bantry Tidy Towns group which last week had to pick up 22 bags of clothes and five bags of rubbish. There is a massive amount of illegal dumping going on.

We must also consider the sewerage systems in west Cork that continuously cause massive pollutants. These have not been rectified. I could name the areas here, one after the other. I ask the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to at least look into those issues going forward. It is not just that people can smell this pollution, they can also see it. Some people have to swim in it. It is totally wrong and incorrect. I plead with the Government to look at it and provide proper funding for it.

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