Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

That is what I said earlier. I said in the Minister's absence that if the contents of this Bill were being put into practice by his Department, we would willing accept it but that is not the case in many instances.

In the last two days, a transport carrier brought a consignment of goods from Northern Ireland to Cork. On the return journey to the North, the licensed carrier took on board a huge quantity of waste, some of which was identified as Government originated waste. On the journey to Northern Ireland, the truck overturned outside Athlone – hence we had a problem. Will the Minister ask the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate fully and report back to this House on whether the cargo was legitimate and whether the carrier was licensed to carry waste, including Government waste, from Cork to Northern Ireland for export, maybe to some landfill in Northern Ireland? Is that in accordance with our laws? Is it in order that that is going on? If there are legitimate licensed waste disposal agencies in the South of Ireland, why is some of that waste being carried – maybe illegally, although I will hold my judgment on that – to Northern Ireland for disposal in landfills in there or for transportation to Scotland?

I see in the media today reference to the possible, or potential, danger of transporting waste. This is a practical example which happened in the past two days. Will the Minister ask the Environmental Protection Agency to report on whether all the licences are in order and so on?