asked the Minister for the Environment if his Department have any plans to provide finance to local authorities for the provision of storage areas for refrigerators which release chloroflourocarbons which destroy the ozone layer; if he will ensure that the public are made aware of the danger involved; and the steps, if any, he intends to take in this regard.—
Written Answers. - Control of Chloroflourocarbons.
146.
Local authorities have power to provide disposal sites for wastes generally and can raise loans for this purpose. There is no question, however, of any special form of grant assistance for facilities for disposal of refrigerators.
In relation to making the public aware of the danger involved from the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), as CFCs are non-toxic there is no immediate danger to the public arising from the presence of CFCs in refrigeration equipment. I assume, therefore, that the Deputy is referring to the depletion of the ozone layer which is caused when CFCs enter the stratosphere. In this respect, I can assure the Deputy that I am doing, and I will continue to do, all I can by way of public statements, information notes and other relevant and appropriate mechanisms to keep people informed of the danger of releasing CFCs in the atmosphere. In addition, I am considering what steps might be taken to ensure that CFCs in existing equipment are recycled and disposed of, as appropriate, without damage to the environment.
Ultimately, the only solution to the problems caused by the release of CFCs into the atmosphere is to eliminate their production and consumption internationally. In that respect the European Communities, in recognising that the provisions in the Montreal Protocol for an eventual 50 per cent reduction over 1986 levels in the production and consumption of CFCs by 1 July 1998 are inadequate, have now taken the lead internationally by agreeing that the production and consumption of CFCs be eliminated as soon as possible and at the latest by the end of this century. This is a very positive step forward and I would hope that it will be followed by many more countries worldwide.