Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. It was always intended to be collaborative legislation. In fact, there was almost a race between me and Senator Wall to see which of us could get legislation in first. I did not begrudge the fact that he was able to bring his legislation before this Chamber last March because the view we all expressed was that we did not care whose Bill it was; we just want to see the issue addressed. We do not care whether it is the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage or the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. It can be the Minister for Foreign Affairs as far as we are concerned. We just want this issue to be addressed quickly.

Although I appreciate the response of the Minister of State, I took the opportunity during the debate to compare his response to that of Deputy Peter Burke, the Minister of State who responded to the debate on 5 March 2021. It is interesting to compare the two response. In both instances, the Minister of State before the House stated that the circular economy Bill was coming and that there were several issues that were addressed. The Minister of State, Deputy Burke, actually stated there were several flaws in the Bill brought forward by Senator Wall. What we purposely sought to do in the past year in the context of this Bill was to consider that and address some of the concerns. I engaged with the Data Protection Commission and the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers to ensure the problems that were there could be addressed. If the circular economy Bill had arrived very soon, as was promised, I would not have had to introduce this legislation and we would not be outlining the problems we had before. I am going to progress and continue to push with this Bill because I am not as optimistic in respect of the circular economy Bill. I appreciate the kind comments of the Minister of State in respect of the Bill, but why not just adopt it? He should go with this. The circular economy Bill deals with a range of other issues. I am very supportive of the deposit scheme for bottles, for example, and he will find strong support in this House. The Bill before the House, however, aims to deal with a specific issue.

I am glad Senator Ward used the word "proportionate" because I was very careful in that regard. I probably speak about data and data privacy and protection more than any other Senator in the House. I have those big concerns in respect of surveillance issues. I certainly share the concerns in respect of mission creep. I do not want what is happening in the US or the UK to happen here. Certainly, I do not want what is happening in China to happen here. That is why this legislation is very specific in terms of the matters with which it deals. It is why the controls and necessary measures for protection are put in place.

Everyone is saying this is not a magic bullet. I entirely get that. No one thinks it is a magic bullet, but it is a tool that is really necessary. I am surprised with Senator Boyhan, who would not normally stand up here without getting the flavour of councillors, particularly Independent councillors. I know, however, that Independent councillors - in fact, councillors of every party - want this issue to be addressed. I get his concerns regarding what happened in Limerick. It should not have happened. However, this legislation would ensure it would not happen. The Bill addresses a specific concern and the safeguards are put in place. I have no problem in respect of some of the suggestions made by Senator Keogan. We can deal with many of those details on Committee Stage.

Many Senators rightly spoke about civil liberties and the right to privacy. That is something about which I feel very strongly. However, all of our rights are balanced and when we talk about civil liberties, I believe we also need to start to talk about our right to a clean environment, the right of animals not to be poisoned by people who throw rubbish onto land and the right of community land or individual property not to be destroyed by people who have no care for communities or the environment.

I will be pushing the Bill, as will Senators Wall, Cassells and Horkan and other colleagues across the House. I will be looking to move it to Committee Stage. I know the Minister of State said the circular economy Bill will be introduced shortly. The one thing we need to ensure is that, irrespective of whose legislation is progressed, by this summer, local authorities will finally have the underpinning legislation that will allow them to deploy CCTV and other technologies in a controlled and safe environment to finally tackle the scourge of illegal dumping.