Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to talk about environmental protection. We can all agree that environmental policy and legislation are vital to protect the environment not just for the sake of the 7 billion to 8 billion people inhabiting this miraculous blue planet of ours, but also for our children and for generations to come. Rigorous implementation of environmental policy and legislation is certainly good and is arguably an ethical and a moral obligation. A clean environment promotes and maintains the health and well-being of communities and individuals, consumers and workers. It is also important for the aesthetics and reputation of Ireland's tourism industry, a vital part of our economy which provides employment for approximately 265,000 people.

In such circumstances, it is imperative that we protect the environment in order to ensure long-term sustainable economic growth. We all have a part to play in protecting the environment in our daily lives, our choices and actions. However, the statutory role of environmental protection and environmental law lies with a range of Departments, 34 local authorities, An Garda Síochána and several agencies. The principal regulator and enforcement body is the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. Does the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, believe that the EPA has all the powers and resources it needs to implement and enforce environmental law in Ireland? I have my doubts.Every year, we pay tens of millions of euro to the EU to avoid harsher fines for failing to comply with our environmental obligations as a member state. This could become billions by 2030 if we continue to breach our greenhouse gas emission limits. Every year, we see reports of our land and waterways - the land that feeds us and the water we drink - being polluted with untreated sewage and effluent from industry and agriculture.

On the topic of fines and the principle that the polluter pays, which is at the heart of environmental law, are those who pollute in Ireland paying to the same extent as polluters in neighbouring countries? To give one example, the document I have before me shows that airlines in the UK have been hit with fines of £132 million for failing to meet emissions trading system rules. What has the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, done to ensure our airlines are complying with these rules? The Minister needs to look at and address the issue of pollution and at the EPA's effectiveness in combating it immediately.