asked the Minister for the Environment if he intends to issue a special amenity area order for the Liffey valley in view of the rapid developments and huge new population in the area.
20.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Liffey Valley.
19.
asked the Minister for the Environment if he will make a special amenity area order for the Liffey valley immediately so as to prevent the despoilation of the valley by the continuing dumping of rubbish on the part of the county council.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 20 together. The making of a special amenity area order is a matter for consideration in the first instance by the elected members of the planning authority and their advisers, having regard to the provisions of the Planning Acts, the development plan and the proper planning and development of the area. I understand that preliminary work in relation to a possible order for the Liffey valley area is being carried out by Dublin County Council. In these circumstances it would be quite inappropriate for me to take direct action in a matter which is usually and properly within the competence of the elected council.
Is the Minister aware — and this is the purport of the two questions put down by Deputy Mac Giolla and myself — that he has specific statutory responsibility and a specific statutory function to make a special amenity order for an area of this type of great natural beauty? That specific section was incorporated into the planning legislation by a predecessor of the Minister in the Coalition Government of 1973 to 1978. As that section is there and the Minister has a direct responsibility when an area of natural beauty has been despoiled by the dumping of rubbish, what action is he going to take about an area with a population of over a quarter of a million?
No speech, please.
He has the responsibility and a statutory function to discharge in this respect. Would the Minister please tell the House whether he proposes to invoke and exercise his statutory powers in this matter by making a special amenity order for this area?
I have not the power to make the amenity order. I can direct the planning authority to make it.
The Minister is misleading the House. He has this specific responsibility.
The Deputy asked the Minister a very long question. He should let the Minister reply.
He is misleading the House.
I have informed the Deputy that I have the power to direct the planning authority to do this. That is what I said.
The Minister has the power to do it?
That is what I said to the Deputy. He obviously was not listening. He was so excited. I have the power to direct the local authority to make a special amenity order. I have not made any direction in this case because——
But the Minister does have a function, then?
Yes, of course, I have.
He denied it at first.
That is wrong. I did not deny it.
That is insubordination.
What I said was that I have not the right to make an amenity order. I can direct the local authority to do so.
Correct. That is what we want the Minister to do.
In the planning of the Dublin west area, in which the Minister and his predecessors were involved, of two major cities one on each side of the Liffey — Ronanstown-Clondalkin-Lucan area and Blanchardstown, was it considered what should be done with the high amenity area of the Liffey valley which runs right through the centre of those two major cities? Did the Minister at that time not consider the necessity for issuing a special amentity order to protect that valley from the encroachment and development which are now rapidly taking place?
I have not the information as to what happened or what was in the Minister's mind at the time.
It is precisely to meet this situation.
The planning was there.
We want to know whether the Minister thought about that.
That is not what I am talking to Deputy Mac Giolla about. Deputy Mac Giolla wants to know what action the Minister took at the time. The Minister obviously did not take that action at the time. He looked at the draft development plan for the county and was happy with what the members agreed to. The members, as the Deputies are aware, passed this draft recommendation plan and they were aware of what was happening.
The members are not the planning authority. It is the manager of the county council and the Minister who are the planning authority, not the councillors. The Minister, as the planning authority, is the planner of that whole huge area of development. Is the Minister also a planner of the destruction of the Liffey valley which is recognised as one of our major areas of natural beauty?
Speeches are not in order at Question Time.
Obviously, the Minister has not studied his brief. He does not know what previous Ministers had planned.
Deputy Mac Giolla will have to find another venue for speeches.
The Minister should have been prepared for this question and should have read what the planners had in mind when they were planning two major cities beside the Liffey. Has he no idea whether the local authorities are to be instructed——
I am calling on Deputy Mac Giolla to resume his seat so that Deputy Skelly, who is from the constituency, may ask a question.
The county council officials submitted a general report to elected representatives about four and a half years ago on the waste disposal situation in the county. The acquisition and development of the land at Waterstown for use as a tip site has been one of the principal recommendations. The report was approved by the elected representatives. The process of the acquisition of the land was finalised but there has been a vigorous campaign to stop the proposed development. The basic point is that the elected representatives did have a say.
The Minister has a say also. That is the purpose of these two questions.
I have indicated that I have a say. I am not running away from it.
We are asking you to do something about it.
Will Deputies please allow Deputy Skelly to ask a question?
Is the Minister aware that recently the officials voted 11 to one against this proposal and is he aware also that in 1977 the council proposed that in the first section of a major refuse dump there would be involved 134 acres of silt 25 feet thick?
The time for Question Time has expired. However, I will allow the Deputy to complete the question, but it must be short and not a speech.
We have waited three months for the question to be reached. We are talking about what is a major problem for the city of Dublin. May we continue the question tomorrow?
The hour for Question Time has expired.
The Chair is not being fair to the Fine Gael Deputy for the area.
I have been attacked by the Opposition for extending Question Time. I am not extending it today.
Is the Minister aware that it was proposed 34 years ago to site a temporary dump at Chapelizod for a period of four years but that that was discontinued only last year? Is he aware also that the Minister for the Environment has responsibility for the seas around our shores and for our rivers and lakes? Does the Minister know that £650,000 was spent on acquiring 50 acres for this dump but that the 250,000 residents of the area are concerned that the dump will be in existence for perhaps 100 years? Would the Minister consider making a special amenity order which would give some opportunity to officials of the county council and to the people concerned to prevent the dump going ahead? In that way the Minister would have the opportunity of studying the proposal being put forward by the community in conjunction with the private planning consultants.
The Deputy is aware that, as outlined in the county development plan 1983, it is the policy of Dublin County Council to examine in detail the areas designated in the plan as high amenity areas, including the Liffey valley, with a view to making special amenity area orders for all or part of these areas. Dublin County Council are examining the question of making a special amenity order for the Liffey valley area. The making of such an order is the function of elected members. There is no point in my running in and directing local authorities as to what they are to do.
But that is the purpose of the section.
We must move on to the next business.
You indicated that you would call me.
The Chair was hopeful that he would get co-operation in which case he would have been able to call Deputy Molloy but that was not the case. The remaining Questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the matter of the serious and deteriorating employment problem in Dundalk as a result of the latest reports from ECCO who are one of the major employers in the town.
The Chair will communicate with Deputy Kirk. However, I would remind him that, since there are likely to be two divisions this evening, there will hardly be time left for an Adjournment debate.