James Bannon (Fine Gael)

The Minister should check any of our county development plans put together and adopted by public representatives. Elected members are dedicated to providing superior customer service, seeking out innovative solutions to waste management issues and implementing technological procedures with a strong commitment to environmental stewardship. Yesterday the former Taoiseach, Deputy John Bruton, called on the Minister to make provision for an ongoing subsidy fund of €150 million per annum for ten years for recycling of domestic waste. Deputy Bruton said:

Just as some form of ongoing public subsidy for public transport is allowed in the general interest, I believe that an ongoing public subsidy for recycling should also be allowed. Capital grants alone are not enough because recycling is loss making on a year-on-year basis.

The Bill's defining of the Environmental Protection Agency's integrated pollution control licensing system to bring it into line with the EU directive on integrated pollution prevention and control is to be broadly welcomed. We must, as a matter of urgency, place greater emphasis on pollution prevention and minimise environmental problems at source. We are reaching a crisis in waste management and it is obvious that the present measures are ineffective. The European Commission has been a major driver of environmental reform and Ireland a somewhat reluctant conformer, often having to be faced with court action before adopting EU directives. Almost every piece of progressive environmental legislation passed during the term of the Government has resulted from direct intervention by the European Union.