Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

However, it is virtually impossible for them to live in these towns and villages because planning permission is not being granted for developments due to the lack of sewage treatment facilities. The Department's offices must communicate with each other. If the Department wishes to control the number of one-off houses in rural Ireland, it must provide an alternative and, therefore, it should implement the sewerage schemes that are necessary. The Department suggests that a sewerage scheme be paid for on the basis of the number of houses in the area and that the scheme should be based on a proprietary treatment system on a 0.5 acre site, which equates to €10,000. That is ridiculous. There is no communication between the Department and local authorities. The Department engineer says one thing while the council engineer says another, even though they are all under the auspices of the Department. Somebody should direct local authorities and the Department to get together to agree a system. If a cap is put in place or an amount set aside for each house, the engineer should come up with a solution to meet the budget but the current regime cannot be allowed to continue.

I am delighted with the US Supreme Court case. Most law-abiding citizens welcome the decision and I hope the US Administration will find a mechanism to move forward from its current position. I welcome comments by President Bush in recent weeks, which suggest he is willing to do so. The media and a number of Senators say these issues are the creation of the US President. Torture, rendition and other illegal activities had their genesis long before President Bush took up office.