Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

Apparently there was an announcement about selling off land around psychiatric hospitals. Perhaps the Leader will arrange for a debate on the matter. Almost every county has a psychiatric hospital. While there is some merit in the proposal, there is grave difficulty with it. If it is a Government proposal, there should be a debate on it because it will affect almost every county. Many psychiatric hospitals are fantastic historical buildings and I do not believe they would facilitate development. St. Dymphna's Hospital, Carlow, is a magnificent building and I would not like to see the land around it being developed. I am aware that other counties might lend themselves to the proposal. The Leader might organise a debate on the issue if it is Government policy.

A success of the last Government was the levy on plastic bags and another issue which could be looked at is that of chewing gum. Technology now exists to make chewing gum less sticky. There is a huge amount of chewing gum on footpaths. The Presentation College in Carlow did a young scientist experiment recently. The students studied one square metre of footpath and the amount of chewing gum found was amazing. Many pavements in towns throughout the country are now in the form of a slab on sand which is no longer concreted in and modern machinery cannot be used on them because it would pull up the pavement. During our Presidency of the EU, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government should use his role, following his predecessor's example, and put pressure on chewing gum companies to make it less sticky. This would save local authorities thousands of pounds each year which could be put to good use by helping to clean up towns even further.