Brendan Ryan (Labour)

He attempted to raise the matter on the Adjournment. There is no reason pharmaceutical plants should smell. If they do, it is because they are badly run. If a waste water treatment plant smells, it is because it is badly run. If we are pretending to recycle waste by simply shipping it off to China, that is because we will not do it properly. All of those problems are soluble. There are countries richer than ours that have no waste crisis or no smell crisis. It is our own fault.

If we must have incineration in this country we need leadership. I would be pleased to hear the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government say he would be happy to have an incinerator in County Wicklow, which is what he has opposed up to now. That is the way to give leadership, not to tell the rest of us what we should do. I hope we have now been forced by the European Union to deal with our waste problem like all the other civilised countries of Europe do.

The problem of the increasing incidence of suicide is continually raised. Last week a report was published in Scotland showing that a multidisciplinary approach had produced a dramatic reduction of about 12% in suicides. I am aware that an interdepartmental body is working on this problem. There is ample evidence of what can be done, not to eliminate but to reduce suicide. It would be a tragedy if resources alone were to prevent us doing what has apparently been done so successfully in Scotland.

I seek a debate at some point on the Gaeltacht. We now have a situation where in parts of Connemara, Údarás na Gaeltachta is now referred to as "Údarás na Galltachta" because Fianna Fáil has succeeded in having somebody elected to that body who cannot speak Irish. It is time we had a proper debate——