I do not intend to oppose this Bill or delay its passage through the House but I want to put down a marker on section 3 on the question of the carriage of goods by road. This section sets down certain penalties for failure to comply with the provisions of the Bill. I regret that the Bill concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods, which will give rise to accession to what is known as the ADR Agreement is not being brought before the House at the same time as this Bill. Not only is there no legislation to deal with the modern safe carriage of toxic waste by rail, but there is no legislation to deal with the modern safe carriage of toxic waste or related dangerous substances by road. The ADR Bill is long overdue and should be before the House in tandem with this Bill.
This is an indication of inertia within the Department of Tourism and Transport and this is further witnessed by the fact that we are the last European State to sign the ADR Agreement and to introduce the appropriate legislation. I make this point on section 3 because I believe that the Bill is overdue and we will be in very difficult circumstances if there is a major toxic problem on road or rail. I will draw the Minister's attention to what is called the "Asahi Express" which travels on a line where we have had a derailment and almost a second derailment caused by cattle crossing. These incidents could have occurred while the "Asahi Express", which carries highly toxic substances from Dublin to Mayo was on the line. I think we should be taking the ADR legislation in conjunction with this Bill so that we can come to terms with the question of a safe carriage of toxic goods by either road or rail. This needs to be attended to. However, having said that I do not want to delay the passage of this Bill. It is purely technical legislation which has the support of the haulage industry and also has European-wide support. I am sorry we are the last country to deal with this matter and that this inertia exists. We should be taking the ADR Bill in tandem with this one and deal with the whole question of the transport of toxic waste by road and rail and also the transport of other dangerous goods.