John Ellis (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to make a short contribution on the motion before the House. We all have environmental issues at various levels. I would like to highlight a few that are possibly not the direct responsibility of the Minister, but the responsibility of agencies that are responsible to him.

We have all heard the debate in recent months on one-off houses and the treatment units that are being provided for those houses. People have had problems trying to get planning permission to build houses on sites that are family owned, and many reasons have been given to deny permission. One of the main reasons in my county of Leitrim is that the treatment units that are put in to treat the sewage from these one-off houses do not meet a certain standard. However, when the companies that supply these treatment units have sought the prescribed standard from the EPA, it turned out that the EPA has no standard. That is a terrible situation. The EPA cannot provide the specification required for people to be allowed build houses in rural Ireland. This is unacceptable. Most of these treatment units produce what is known as grey water, which can be used for watering lawns or for any other non-domestic use. It can make a contribution to the environment by preventing people from using treated water to water their flowers. We know the cost to the State of producing such treated water.

Water charges come from the cost of treating water. This is an opportunity for less water to be used in these households if a proper, clear initiative could be given by the EPA on the required standards. In spite of persistent requests by various people involved in the business of supplying treatment units, the EPA is not in a position to provide the relevant standards. That is wrong. We can set standards for discharges from public sewerage schemes, but we cannot set them for discharges from one-off houses. That must be examined as soon as possible. I raised this today on the Order of Business and I will continue to raise it until I get an answer from the EPA on the required standard.

Another problem we have is the number of objections to projects that are environmentally friendly. We see objections to wind farms, biodigesters and anything that seeks to improve our environment. Many of the people who object are so ignorant of what is proposed that they are not for real. Some of the objections are totally ludicrous. It is very difficult for wind farms to be connected to the national grid for any of these projects. We have seen cases in which planning permission granted for wind farms have run out because they cannot get connected to the grid. It is long past the time when the ESB should be asked to allow these connections if we are to try to meet our targets under the Kyoto Protocol. It is ridiculous that we find ourselves in this situation.

Some of the small thermal treatment units are well able to deal with waste and these could be established in certain areas, rather than having to drag stuff from one end of the country to the other into landfills and even outside the State. This could be disposed of through these units and the only by-product is ash, which could be recycled and used in road construction. The power generated by these can go back into the national grid again.

There are vested interests out there that are preventing a green agenda from moving on, and the people behind this will have to be tackled. These vested interests have for too long been able to prevent us from acting as the guardians of the environment that we inherited. We have to accept that this generation and the generation before it probably did more to vandalise the environment than generations for 1,000 years before them. If there has been vandalism, there is a need to redress it. We have an opportunity to do so very quickly and leave the environment in a better state, but red tape continues to prevent progress. Some of the organisations established to deal with environmental matters are out of synch with what is required in the modern age. It takes them too long and they do not want to make a decision. They will speak and debate indefinitely, but decisions are the last thing they want to take. We will have to do something about this.

Various Governments have made an enormous contribution to providing properly treated water, particularly in rural areas. Some county councils are also to be complimented. I certainly compliment the county council in my home county of Leitrim which has one of the best available water schemes. Every small village in the county has a sewerage scheme. However, the only reason for this is that the council took the initiative and used the money available during the Celtic tiger era to implement these schemes. The net result is that we do not have the problems experienced in other areas.

It is terrible to hear Senator Coffey state raw sewage is discharged into rivers. That is not acceptable.