Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister. I strongly support the Bill and what the Minister has said about it on radio and television. He has mentioned the need for strong action, with which I agree totally. He has also commented that legislation alone will not improve the environment, which is true.

In my time on the Council of Europe I was a member of the science and technology committee and we spent much time looking at the question of pollution. It is interesting to consider the efforts made by each country to prevent pollution. There are good examples of positive steps being taken. There are also examples of some governments in Europe saying they would have it stated in their constitutions that everyone is entitled to fresh air and a good environment. That is not enough. Some of the places to which I refer were affected by smog problems similar to those experienced in Dublin in the late 1980s before the then Minister of State and current Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, took action. This is a salutary lesson which shows that legislation must be introduced and the necessary decisions taken.

Last week I visited Iraq with Deputy Michael Higgins. There will be an opportunity to debate that issue tomorrow. In relation to the environment and pollution in that country, a friend took us to a restaurant and said the food was very good but not to eat fish caught in the local river because of the pollution. This shows that pollution can affect even our eating habits.