David Norris (Independent)

The Cathaoirleach will be as delighted as I am to realise the Minister has the gift of prophesy because I had not mentioned the second case. If the Minister thinks it is the Standish Sawmills case, I will be very pleased if he provides good news on this. He and the Government have prevaricated on this matter on the numerous occasions I attempted to raise it in this House. I was told there was no ministerial responsibility and when I demonstrated that there was, the matter had become sub judice. The court lacks the capacity to enforce injunctions in this situation.

How can anyone respect the planning process when the ridiculous case of the Gardiner Street development exists, and is multiplied by ten in the case of Standish Sawmills? An excerpt from an article in The Irish Times of 26 May 2005 reads:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to grant a new pollution control licence to T&J Standish Sawmills in Co. Offaly. The EPA said, however, that it would go ahead with a prosecution against the sawmills in Roscrea District Court this morning for breaches of the company's current integrated pollution control licence.

These are continuing polluters, cocking a snook at the Minister and the planning authorities. This development was established without planning permission, farm animals have died, the water table has been affected, wells have been polluted and it is a gross visual intrusion on the outskirts of a national monument, Leap Castle.

Among the chemicals leached from this plant are varieties of chromium, the very thing featured in the Hollywood film——