Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I agree with Senator Coffey's proposal for a debate on environmental protection. Concerns should be expressed regarding Ireland's slide from tenth to 34th position in the world in respect of environmental protection. This slide occurred because in the past policies were discussed rather than implemented. The agencies to which Senator Coffey referred should be the focus of such a debate. The programme for Government refers to the need to review and reform the Environmental Protection Agency. The role of local authorities and their willingness and capacity to deal with many environmental problems would be also worthy of a debate.

Members of Opposition parties should be cognisant of the regulatory role their representatives have to play within local authorities. Most local authorities have a large number of members from Fine Gael and Labour. Why is more pressure not being exerted at local authority level in respect of the environmental regulation role? Problems relating to emissions and discharges are meant to be dealt with by local authorities——