John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

The Senator was absent from the Chamber when I referred to that matter. Perhaps his colleague, Senator Bacik, will update him on what I said.

The steps to which I referred earlier brought the site at Haulbowline to a position where the Government decided that the Office of Public Works, OPW, would chair a working group to develop a structured and coherent approach to the further management and development of the site and to advise Government on options for its future use. The OPW working group is carrying out its mandate, with Cork County Council continuing to discharge site management responsibilities on an agency basis.

I have always been adamant that consultation with local communities is an absolutely essential element to a satisfactory resolution. Community health issues obviously do not come under my remit but I am acutely aware of the concerns about health in the lower harbour area. I am of the view that through the public consultation mechanism of the working group, there can and will be engagement with the local community to examine and explore these issues in detail. Consequent on a decision as to its future use, a detailed risk assessment of the entire site, with recommendations for the appropriate remediation required, can also be undertaken to facilitate such future use. When dealing with sites of this nature, it is crucial that rather than piecemeal action, which could inadvertently cause problems for the local community and the environment, a coherent overall approach should be taken to obtain the best possible results. That is the objective being pursued by the Government in this case. I reassure the House that the relevant Departments and agencies remain properly engaged in the management of such legacy sites in a manner which is consistent with good practice and minimisation of risk to human health and the environment.

On environmental enforcement, there are those who persist in acting illegally by dumping waste, polluting our air and our water and littering our beaches. Local authorities and the Office of Environmental Enforcement have been taking a very robust approach to such activity and must be commended for this. There can be no excuse for this type of behaviour and it will not be tolerated. The Government has committed €7.5 million per annum up until 2014 for the employment of enforcement officers by local authorities and is committed to providing further funding towards the costs associated with their deployment for enforcement related activities. To further underpin progress, I am establishing an action group to come forward with recommendations for further action to tackle the problem of rural and roadside littering. Ultimately, our success will be dependent on our capacity to act collectively and to ensure littering and other environmental vandalism, and the associated damage to our economy and our quality of life, are fully and comprehensively eradicated.