Tony Kett (Fianna Fail)

Senator Glynn mentioned environmental dumping. Most people will agree that one of the best initiatives taken in this area was the imposition of the plastic bag levy. It is now four years in existence. When the levy was introduced in 2002, approximately 90 million plastic bags were sold. That number has been increasing and apparently in 2005 a total of 115 million bags were sold. Is there a need for the Minister to re-examine this matter to ascertain if people see the 15 cent as an innocuous payment and, perhaps, consider increasing the levy if it would improve the situation?

I support the call for a debate on locating the new children's hospital on the Mater Hospital site. I agree with Senator Brady's comments in that regard. It is ironic that the two hospitals which are denigrating the decision happen to be the hospitals that were in contention for the decision. Perhaps there is an element of sour grapes. It is an insult to the expert body which examined this and, indeed, to Professor Drumm, an eminent paediatrician who worked in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin. When will we stop second-guessing each other on this issue? An expert group has gone through the whole mechanism of making the decision and we are asking that another group overlook its comments. Where will it end? We should move on. As Senator Brady said, the matter has been in gestation for a year and half at this stage.