DAIL DEBATES


Waste Management (Amendment) Bill 2001
Sitting Time
Sitting Date
21:10
27 June 2001


Text:
Mr. Kelleher: By agreement I will share my time with Deputy Keaveney.
I welcome the chance to discuss what is an emotive and passionate issue. There is an historical neglect by Administrations and local authorities to address the mounting waste problem. We turned a blind eye to the operation of landfills where large volumes of all forms of rubbish were dumped with no EPA licensing system or checks and balances to ensure that only degradable and non-toxic material was deposited. I am concerned about that. We did not recognise or take seriously the responsibilities that we have as public representatives, particularly in local authorities. I am disappointed that some local authority members use this
issue for electoral gain.

Mr. U. Burke: We heard that all before.

Mr. Kelleher: It was said that the voices of local authorities should be taken into account when formulating policy. I support local democracy and local authority members having a greater say in policy. However, let us be under no illusions. Show me a councillor who would propose a landfill in his backyard. That will never happen.

Mr. U. Burke: We did it and were denied the opportunity to implement it.

Mr. Kelleher: I do not refer to County Galway but to local authorities in general. It is a fact of life that councillors will not support an electorally dangerous measure. If we had no National Roads Authority, how many motorways would be built? Could we even dream of implementing the national development plan? It would be impossible because very unpopular decisions must be made. In Cork we have difficulties over the site of a materials recovery unit and a landfill. We try to explain to the people, be positive and make difficult decisions. Politics are played with this type of issue at all levels.
Previous Administrations did not accept that there was a waste problem. Our recycling infrastructure is almost non-existent. Recently efforts were made to redress this but we are starting from a position where recycling is not inherent in our psyche. We are wasteful and are not hygienic in disposing of rubbish. It is unacceptable that at the most scenic spots, byroads and main roads, we see chip bags and papers, newspapers, burnt out cars and tyres. It is not for local authorities to pick up people's rubbish. They must take responsibility for their own areas. Even people in impoverished European countries are more conscious about keeping their environs clean, outside their houses, on the footpaths
and the roads. Here we think that it is someone else's problem, the local authority's or the Government's. It is all our problem. Efforts were made in recent years to increase environmental awareness in schools for which I commend the Minister. If we want to ensure change for the next generation we must being in the schools.
Fines should be dramatically increased, especially for large scale
dumping such putting a plastic bag of household rubbish over a ditch.
Such a person should be fined at least £500 and community service should be imposed. It would be a positive step to consider community service for litter louts on Community Stage. We have not tackled this head on. Massive resources are applied to changing people's perception of drink driving and other matters, but litter is not tackled seriously. I urge the Minister to examine an increase in fines and community service for those who breach the litter laws.
Incineration is emotive as are landfill and materials recovery. We must be brave, challenging and ask people to consider the problems of waste disposal in a cold calculating way. Many turn a blind eye to the fact that European countries, some of them models in strict environmental regulation, use incineration successfully. If it is properly explained and the public realise the benefits brought by modern technology and research in other countries, including their mistakes, we can take a brave leap forward with incineration. In Cork, we propose a landfill and a materials recovery unit.
Section to follow:
Section JJJ follows.

Sitting Time
Sitting Date
21:20
27 June 2001
Text:
[Mr. Kelleher continuing]
Wherever it is eventually situated it will be successful and we will be able to address our waste problem for the next 20 to 25 years as a
county. Other counties will have to make difficult decisions and follow suit.
On the issue of the powers of the manager and associated fears, I have always been an advocate of giving more power to local authority members. That should be encouraged. This could be put in the same context as a planning issue. Nobody demands that a local authority member should have a say in where an IDA centre, a house extension or a landfill should go. I do not see any difficulty in moving and transferring this particular function from local authority members to management. The reason we have to move it is because local authority members have not had the ability to grasp the issue and make decisions that are in the interest of the public, not the ballot box.
I welcome the Bill. It is unfortunate that it needed to be brought
forward at all. As one Labour Party leader in England said years ago, "There was a shiver running around the room looking for a spine to run up". We have had that attitude in regard to addressing the waste issue. We all turned our heads and hoped the issue would go away but it has not. We have mounting waste and threats of leaving bags of rubbish on the streets in tourist towns throughout the country. That is not good enough. I suggest that councillors can still make decisions through support of the manager and consensus. Many of the requirements of the 1996 legislation were not met and now we must bring forward further legislation to ensure we can bring forward a coherent waste management strategy that will benefit everybody.
The education of young people on environmental issues is something we must support. It is important that we use imaginative ways of promoting environmental awareness. Young people are very impressionable and sports and music industry figures with charisma should be used to push this. No matter how much we like ourselves, as politicians, young people are more impressed by their modern idols. I have encouraged this type of promotion with regard to under age drinking and abuse of tobacco and drugs. This approach would be innovative and could be successful in capturing young people's imaginations, especially in conjunction with the national
competitions being run in schools.
I welcome the broad provisions of the Bill. It is disappointing that we have had to bring it forward because of the fact that people shirked their responsibilities through shortsightedness. This Bill is in everybody's interest. I suggest to the Minister that he look at the idea of community service as a mandatory penalty for those convicted of offences under the Litter Act. I wish the Bill well and look forward to Committee Stage next week when I hope these issues will be addressed.