When the House reported progress on this measure before the recess, I was making some points in regard to the pollution of water and how we might set out in the direction of abating this horrible nuisance. It will be freely admitted here by all Deputies that this country is possessed of lovely lakes and streams, and at this stage in our development it would be too bad that the public in general should be allowed to forget this fact. There are many other countries who envy us the variety of scenery we have here, scenery which is made up of high vegetation, beautiful lakes, mountains and streams. It is regrettable that, in this modern age, the motor car, not to mention the affluence that goes with it, should be used to convey to the vicinity of a lake or river, trash which may give rise to pollution.
This measure deals with water preservation, and to this extent the scope for discussion is limited, but the preservation of water is something which should concern all of us. I referred previously to the fact that some of our lakes are already highly polluted, and this without the advent of high industrialisation. Lakes may become polluted from many causes. Intensive farming is only one way in which a lake may become polluted. It behoves all of us who live in these surroundings and who meet people who are engaged for a livelihood in raising livestock of one kind or another to find ways and means of reducing the degree of pollution of lakes which may arise from fertilisers, the spreading of nitrogen and so on.
As I said at the outset, we should start preserving our rivers and lakes in a practical way. We should educate the young about the danger of litter which leads to pollution. It is regrettable that if a local authority develop a lay-by it is not developed six months until it becomes a polluted area. There is something wrong with the civic spirit of a community which permits this to happen. Children grow up in this atmosphere and when they see their elders dumping refuse anywhere they will certainly follow this course. There should be a campaign against this, first of all, and, secondly, against pollution. On the Continent, in areas where there is a high degree of industrialisation, they go to great lengths to try to preserve the sluggish rivers they have there, to try to prevent litter and pollution, and in certain cities in Europe it is a crime to dump even an empty matchbox on the street. It is not so here; people here seem to be quite unconcerned about the dangers of this trend. It is high time that all of us— and when I say all of us I include this House and the various Departments of State—should, by every means open to us, condemn all sorts of dumping and make it a crime.
It behoves the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, who pay grants in respect of the erection of out-buildings, to explain to the promoters the dangers which may arise from untreated effluents discharged from those buildings. Similarly in the case of industry, the Department of Industry and Commerce should be alive to the fact that, while locating an industry in a given area may be a very helpful promotion to the community, they must take steps to see that it does not lead to the pollution of a lake or stream. I am not saying this is an easy problem to deal with. We have been living with it now for a long time and in the last ten years it has increased out of all proportion to what it was in the previous ten years. Local authorities should also be encouraged to provide dumps which can take the refuse of the community and which will be attended to and drained and prevented in future from polluting streams.
There are many elements which come into this whole matter, and one could go on at length about the dangers of indiscriminate development, by which I mean development that is not planned, and about planning towards the elimination of pollution of both the air and the water. Bear in mind that one can pollute vegetation just as one can pollute the air and the water, but water is, perhaps, more susceptible to pollution than any other natural element. Early on we set out to encourage the development of our lakes and streams. We encouraged both Bord Fáilte and the Inland Fisheries Trust to stock our lakes with game fish. We encouraged Bord Fáilte to invite tourists here every year for fishing. It would be too bad if when these visitors come in high hope of good sport, they should find themselves fishing in polluted lakes and streams.
I read recently about the pollution of vegetation in certain parts of England. A well-known species of tree has been affected by pollution. The more we become industrialised the more likely it is that we shall meet with the same catastrophe. We have some lovely forests in which we have invested a large amount of money. We have private planting. It would be too bad if pollution were allowed to affect our natural vegetation. If our vegetation is affected our lakes and rivers will also become affected.
To combat pollution we should start with the things we can accomplish. We are very careless about litter. In a certain town the operatives of the cleansing department clean up the town between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. every day. By mid-day one is up to one's knees in litter. If that is allowed to continue the problem of pollution will be almost incapable of solution.
Primary development and industrial development must go hand in hand and we must at all times ensure that, before development takes place, we are in a position to nullify the possible effects of pollution. We have not done that so far. We are all aware of the horrible scars left on certain industrial towns in the North of England as a result of open-cast mining and so forth. Do we want to see scars like those in this country? I do not think we do. Do we want to see our vegetation ruined? I do not think we do. Do we want the air we breathe polluted? I do not think we do. It behoves each and every one of us to play his part in abating this horrible scourge. About 18 months ago when one of our most beautiful lakes was denuded of fish because of pollution it was brought home to me vividly that pollution is a scourge. The water will have to be cleaned and the lake restocked. Would it not have been better in the five years before it became polluted to have taken steps to ensure that this could not occur?
The beauty of our countryside is not man-made and we have, therefore, a greater duty to preserve it. Steps will have to be taken and there are steps which could and should be taken to reduce the dangers of pollution.