Finally, we have a draft report on a series of complicated proposals relating to the environment, namely, toxic and dangerous wastes disposal, dumping of waste at sea, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances, protection of health of workers in the plastics industry, and protection of foodstuffs from VCM contamination. These were dealt with in great detail and very comprehensively by the sub-Committee. Let me direct your attention to page 3, where it is stated:
The Joint Committee is informed that proposals for legislation are in fact being prepared and that a survey is being carried out through local authorities to determine the extent of the problem nationally.
The dumping of waste at sea is another very topical issue at the moment and is becoming increasingly important, particularly, for those who have the responsibility for looking after an island on the western seaboard. We have a provision in fisheries legislation on the dumping of deleterious matter in the sea. The Dumping at Sea Bill, 1976, was introduced in the Seanad and its purpose is to enable this country to ratify two Conventions, the Oslo Convention and the London Convention. The object of the draft Directive is to ensure harmonisation in domestic measures. We are informed that the Bill will not be tied to any list of substances so that it will be possible to give legal effect to the draft Directive as well as to the Conventions.
